Grand jurors in Trump probe on standby
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 expresident.
The postponement was confirmed by four people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name. The grand jurors were told to be on standby for Thursday, another day when the New York panel has been meeting in recent weeks.
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 or not 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.
The timing of any potential indictment is unknown, and an arrest and arraignment — the criminal proceeding in which a defendant is formally charged — would not immediately follow.
In order to indict Trump, Bragg’s prosecutors must ask the grand jury to vote whether to charge him. A majority of the 23 jurors must agree to do so.
With the grand jury not meeting Wednesday, the earliest that is likely to happen is Thursday afternoon.
The charges likely center on the way Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, handled reimbursing Cohen for the payment of $130,000 to Daniels. The company’s internal records falsely identified the reimbursements as legal expenses, which helped conceal the purpose of the payments, according to Cohen, who said Trump knew about the misleading records. Trump’s lawyers deny that.
In New York, falsifying business records can be a crime, and Bragg’s office is likely to build the case around that charge, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the postponement, which was earlier reported by Business Insider.
Law enforcement officials have accelerated security preparations in the event of unrest accompanying an unprecedented charge against a former U.S. president.
While police erected barricades around the courthouse where any criminal case would be brought, neighborhood resident Barbara Malmet, a retired New York University professor, packed a bag and prepared to leave town.
Malmet, 70, lives a few blocks from the city’s civic center and said she is concerned about “a smaller repeat of Jan. 6” if Trump incites “his cult followers into violence.” She wants ”a little more peace of mind not being within walking distance of the courthouse.”
So far, Trump’s call for protests has not resulted in any lawlessness.
A trickle of activists visited the courthouse for demonstrations that were partly performance art. One person tried to enter the building carrying a large cross, like Jesus.
Another man sat on the ground wearing a Trump flag as a cape and a hat with antlers. A demonstrator on a nearby bench held a placard saying “Trump is over.”