Sources: DA postpones Trump grand jury session
NEW YORK >> Manhattan prosecutors postponed a scheduled grand jury session Wednesday in the investigation into Donald Trump over hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign, at least temporarily slowing a decision on whether to charge the ex-president.
The postponement was confirmed by four people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name. The grand jurors were told to be on standby for today.
When the grand jurors next meet, they may hear from yet another witness, according to a person familiar with proceedings that appear to be nearing a decisive vote on whether to indict Trump.
The panel has been probing Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to porn actor
Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump years earlier. Trump has denied the claim, insisted he did nothing wrong and assailed the investigation, led by Manhattan District Attorney
Alvin Bragg, as politically motivated.
Wednesday’s abrupt development, which a person familiar with the matter said was not connected to security concerns, came amid growing anticipation that Trump could soon be
charged. Grand jury proceedings are shrouded in secrecy, making it hard to predict with certainty what action might be taken and when.
As the panel has been hearing from final witnesses, Trump has contended his arrest is imminent and law enforcement officials have accelerated security preparations in the event of unrest accompanying an unprecedented charge against a former U.S. president.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the postponement.
Prosecutors had recently invited Trump to appear before the grand jury, and on Monday heard from a witness favorable to his case.
Trump over the weekend stated that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, though the day came and went without that happening.
The panel, sources said, typically meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, means the long-awaited decision on Trump’s possible indictment could be delayed to later this week or even into next week.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan will preside over the case if Trump is indicted, a source with direct knowledge told The New York Daily News. Merchan presided over the Trump Organization’s trial and its finance chief Allen Weisselberg’s case.
Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis said Trump’s former fixer, who issued the payment to Daniels, had not been asked to come back and did not know whether he might still be.
The grand jury has been investigating hush money payments made to Daniels on the eve of Trump’s 2016 election as president, how Trump classified payback checks to his then-fixer Michael Cohen, and how he hid the transaction to conceal its purpose of influencing the election.
Trump on Saturday called for his supporters to “protest” his arrest. There is also heavy security around Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.