Prosecutors in New York have offered Donald Trump the chance to testify before a grand jury — indicating an investigation into hush money the former president allegedly paid to a porn star could soon end in a criminal case.
The New York grand jury investigation allegedly concerns a $130,000 payment made just before the 2016 presidential election to an adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she had an affair with Trump years before he became president.
The Times reported that such offers to testify “almost always indicate that an indictment is imminent”. It cited people with knowledge of the proceedings led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who took office in January. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
If charged, it would be the first time a former US president has been charged with a crime.
‘a bit unfair’
Trump’s attorney, Joseph Tacopina, confirmed that the Manhattan district attorney’s office had invited the former president to testify.
“To me, it’s much ado about nothing,” Tacopina told The Associated Press news agency, adding that he didn’t think prosecutors had “somehow” made a decision about whether or not to indict Trump. He said there was no legal basis for a case.
“It’s another example of how they’re arming the justice system against him. And it’s a bit unfair.”
Trump, who has already announced another bid for the White House, faces several state and federal criminal investigations for possible wrongdoing before, during and after his first term in office. He has not yet been charged for any of them.
Trump lashed out on his Truth Social page on Thursday, calling the New York investigation “a political witch hunt, seeking to bring down by far the leading candidate in the Republican Party.”
“I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels and I would never want to have an affair with Stormy Daniels,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong at all.”
Trump’s legal woes
Bragg’s predecessor Cyrus Vance Jr, also a Democrat, launched an investigation into Trump’s finances in 2019, resulting in a years-long legal battle over the billionaire’s tax documents.
In Georgia, a prosecutor is investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to reverse his 2020 election loss in the southern state. The Atlanta district attorney has said decisions are “imminent.”
The former president is also the subject of a federal investigation into his handling of classified documents and his possible involvement in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. That investigation was turned over to an independent special counsel shortly after Trump announced his new candidacy for the White House. House had formally announced.
The hush money payment, made two weeks before the November 2016 election, was reportedly intended to deter Daniels from publicly disclosing her affair with Trump.
It was created by a close aide to Trump, attorney Michael Cohen, who said he was later reimbursed.
The payment to Cohen, if not properly accounted for, could lead to a misdemeanor charge in New York, but that could be elevated to a misdemeanor if the false accounting covered up a second crime, such as a campaign finance violation, the prosecutor said. Times. .
Trump said on Truth Social in the “Daniels issue” that he had “relied on counsel to solve this extortion … that happened a long time ago.”
It was not immediately clear whether he admitted that the payment had been made.
Several figures close to Trump have been spotted in Bragg’s office in recent days meeting with prosecutors, including his former political adviser Kellyanne Conway and former spokesperson Hope Hicks.
Tacopina said there was no crime.
“There is no precedent for this. There is no settled case law on this campaign finance thing. It is ridiculous. And there is no underlying crime,” he said.
