‘Hush money’ grand jury next meeting Monday, Trump indictment up in the air

Tribune Content Agency

NEW YORK — A frenzied week that began with Donald Trump’s bad bet he’d wind up in handcuffs is set to end with an indictment against the former president still up in the air.

The grand jury that has been hearing evidence against Trump’s hush money deal with porn star Stormy Daniels since January will not convene again until Monday, a law enforcement source told The New York Daily News.

It wasn’t clear whether grand jurors heard anything related to Trump when they met in court at noon on Thursday. Investigative grand juries like the 23-person panel hearing the hush money case sit for longer terms and typically weigh multiple investigations the DA is conducting, which take longer to explain and require more witnesses.

It was unclear if the DA plans to call more witnesses when the grand jury reconvenes, or if the panel’s next move is to vote on an indictment.

Scores of reporters have descended on the lower Manhattan courthouses since earlier this week in anticipation of charges. Trump on Saturday predicted wrongly that he would be arrested on Tuesday, with the day passing without incident.

The DA’s office has remained mum on the status and pace of the Trump probe. But the recent testimony of Michael Cohen, who said he thought he was the final witness, and a lawyer representing Trump’s interests, Robert Costello, has fueled speculation Bragg will decide soon whether to pursue charges against Trump.

Sources connected to the probe say Bragg is considering felony-level charges against Trump related to how he and his company classified payback checks to his then-lawyer and hid them to disguise further wrongdoing.

If Trump is indicted, the charges would mark the first brought against a former U.S. president.

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