Trump grand jury canceled for rest of WEEK: Alvin Bragg faces even MORE questions as panel vote on indictment delayed to at least next week as he ‘struggles’ with ‘weak’ case
- Manhattan grand jury members told not to appear in court on Thursday
- Sources tell DailyMail.com prosecutors ‘are having trouble convincing a jury’ to indict Trump over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels
- Trump is expected to fly to Waco, Texas on Saturday for a campaign event.
The grand jury will sit out for the rest of this week in the case of Donald Trump’s hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The new reports come after sources told DailyMail.com that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is having trouble convincing jurors to indict Trump.
Many people, including Trump, expected the former president to be indicted this week, but an official confirmed to DailyMail.com that Bragg canceled the grand jury on Wednesday and Thursday.
It’s unclear why the grand jury won’t reconvene for the rest of the week amid reports the panel needs to hear a final witness before making a judgment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (pictured Thursday arriving at his office) will not convene a grand jury in the secret money case against Trump.
Members of the Grand Jury will reconvene at the Manhattan courthouse Thursday at noon.
A source told DailyMail.com: ‘They are having trouble convincing the jury to buy the case. It’s a weak case and has caused divisions in the prosecutor’s office.
Other reports suggested that the district attorney’s office may be contemplating a change in strategy.
Trump has urged his supporters to take to the streets and protest, as he still maintains complete innocence of any wrongdoing in the allegations. The former president acknowledged that he approved a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to settle what he called a “nuisance fee,” but denied the matter.
But shocking new documents obtained by DailyMail.com show former Trump attorney Michael Cohen claimed in a 2018 letter that his client or his businesses failed to reimburse Daniels for hush money payments.
The letter to federal authorities could be a stumbling block for prosecutors seeking to bring criminal charges against Trump over the payment.
Cohen, a star witness at the trial, claims that Trump reimbursed him from personal funds. He later pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law for hush money.
Even if Trump is indicted this week, law enforcement sources told DailyMail.com he would not need to come to New York for the arraignment until next week at the earliest. Decidedly good news for the former president, who is gearing up for one of his first 2024 campaign rallies in Waco, Texas, on Saturday.
The 36,000 New York Police Department (NTPD) officers were placed on alert this week and told in a memo Monday to be in uniform and ready for deployment. Uniformed men and women have maintained a greater presence in Manhattan courthouses this week with both pro- and anti-Trump protesters pouring into the Big Apple.
The police presence included the use of dogs to sweep the area for bombs and other nefarious items after New York courthouses were inundated with threats earlier this week.
A bomb threat made via a 9-1-1 call Tuesday shut down Manhattan civil court Tuesday morning and suspended proceedings, according to a court spokesperson.
The threat delayed the start of a New York attorney general hearing in a separate case involving Trump and his company allegedly involved in a year-long fraud scheme.
Police are using bomb-sniffing dogs to patrol the area around Manhattan Criminal Court after someone made a bomb threat via a 9-1-1 call Tuesday.
K9 drug detectors were brought into the Manhattan courthouse Thursday for a sweep before the prosecutor and grand jury arrive.
Anti-Trump protesters hold a giant sign reading “Trump lies all the time” in a park near the Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Trump posted an image Wednesday night on Truth Social of him posing with a large group of officers and first responders with the NYPD and FDNY. There was no text associated with the post.
In a separate post on his social media platform, Trump also reaffirmed his claims that there was “no wrongdoing of any kind” and accused Bragg of “election interference” in weighing the impeachment of a former, and potentially future, president.
As all eyes turn to New York and police and judicial security inspect the streets, images emerged of members of the United States Secret Service (USSS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) establishing a base camp on the Peninsula. Hotel in Manhattan.
Meanwhile, Trump is moving away from the city he once called home, instead staying at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The former president acknowledged that he approved a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to settle what he called a “nuisance fee,” but denied the matter.
New York police stand guard outside Trump Tower in Manhattan Thursday morning as the grand jury prepares to reconvene as protesters are expected to continue demonstrating outside the former president’s residence.
