Former President Donald Trump could soon appear in a Manhattan court to face criminal charges.
Prosecutors have told him he can testify before a grand jury, a source confirmed to the Daily News on Thursday: the subject of the investigation is believed to be the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The invitation is usually extended when prosecutors are nearing a charging decision. The New York Times first reported development, noting that the invitation was for next week.
Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, took to his social media platform Truth Social to express his disgust at the investigation.
“I did absolutely nothing wrong, I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I have wanted to have an affair with Stormy Daniels,” he stated. “This is a political witch hunt, trying to take down the leading candidate, by far, in the Republican Party.”
Lawyers who consulted with Trump about the years-long investigation of the Manhattan district attorney and various investigations have declined to speak officially. One said in the background that he was unlikely to accept District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s invitation. The district attorney’s spokeswoman, Danielle Filson, declined to comment.
After landing in Florida, Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, told The News he would represent the former president in the potential criminal case, after defending him in a civil rape lawsuit this April in a lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
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“Nothing has changed. If they file a case, it will be a serious mistake on the part of the Manhattan district attorney’s office. I mean, this case is unprecedented. It’s once again the justice system being used as a weapon against Donald Trump “Tacopina said. “He’s not well and he’s not going to survive.”
The possible charges would be the first filed against a former president. Sources involved in the case hope to be connected to how Trump and his company classified secret money refund checks to Michael Cohen, and concealed them to hide his political motivations. That legal approach has yet to be tested in court, according to experts interviewed by The News.
Cohen, the fixer-turned-Trump enemy, went to federal prison for the payments. In the 2018 guilty plea, he said Trump ordered him to pay Daniels $130,000 to silence her about an alleged quote of hers in 2006 to influence the outcome of the election. Cohen is expected to take the podium imminently, having met with investigators at least 20 times.
The investigation into Trump and his business dealings, first launched by former District Attorney Cyrus Vance, has spanned three years. Bragg recently revived it with the addition of a grand jury and prosecutors who summoned longtime Trump aides like Kellyanne Conway and Hope Hicks to his lower Manhattan offices.
Whether or not he takes the stand, a panel of New Yorkers will soon see the former president testify at his upcoming federal trial. Tacopina said Trump was “ready, willing and able” to take the stand in the spring.
Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her inside a Midtown department store in the mid-1990s. A judge has yet to decide whether her lawyers can call two more women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct to testify.