According to the New York Times, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has asked former U.S. President Donald Trump to testify before a grand jury that is looking into a hush money payment to a porn star in the final stages of the 2016 presidential campaign. This is a clear indication that an indictment against the former president is coming.
According to the Times report, which cited four unnamed sources “with knowledge of the matter,” it is unclear whether Trump will accept the offer, but prospective defendants rarely testify.
The case centers on a $130,000 payment that porn star Stormy Daniels received from then-Trump fixer Michael Cohen in an apparent effort to prevent her from disclosing details of an alleged affair she had with Trump before he ran for office.
Since falsifying business records is a misdemeanor in New York, it seems likely that the prosecution will argue that the Trump Organization illegally reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 by identifying the payment as legal expenses.
Since the money to allegedly kill the story may have served as an illegal donation to support the Trump campaign, they may also argue that the payment was a felony violation of campaign finance law. However, this is a topic of legal debate.
Meanwhile, a representative for Trump’s 2024 campaign has not responded to the issue.
In 2018, Daniels disclosed the alleged affair, claiming that she was entitled to do so because Trump had not personally signed her non-disclosure agreement.
But Trump has said that the affair never happened. In August 2018, Cohen entered a guilty plea to eight felony charges, one of which was a campaign finance charge related to negotiating the NDA. The next month, Cohen agreed to end the NDA.
As prominent Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, consider entering the race in 2024, Trump’s potential indictment could cause a stir.
While a Georgia special grand jury recently concluded its investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, Trump is the subject of a federal special counsel investigation into his role in the January 6 storming of the Capitol and his potential mishandling of classified government records.
Additionally, Trump is the subject of criminal investigations into his business practices in the state of New York in connection with alleged financial fraud. Trump has been accused of downplaying his assets in order to save money on taxes while simultaneously illegally inflating them to secure loans from banks.
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