- Title: Trump prosecutor arrives to NY court as grand jury wait extends
- Date: 29th March 2023
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 29, 2023) (REUTERS) CARAVAN CARRYING MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ALVIN BRAGG, ARRIVING TO COURTHOUSE AND BRAGG SEEN GETTING OUT OF CAR AND ENTERING MANHATTAN COURTHOUSE CLOSE OF SIGN FOR COURTHOUSE ENTRANCE WIDE OF ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT (NYPD) OFFICERS VARIOUS OF NYPD CAR
- Embargoed: 12th April 2023 14:44
- Keywords: Alvin Bragg NYPD Stormy Daniels Trump grand jury hush money
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA001123529032023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Manhattan District Attorney was seen arriving at a New York courthouse Wednesday (March 29) morning as the wait to hear from a New York grand jury meeting about a matter involving the former president looks primed to enter the following week.
The New York grand jury is hearing evidence about former President Donald Trump's role in a hush-money payment to a porn star is not expected to meet on Wednesday and is unlikely to consider the case again this week, a law enforcement source said.
It is unclear when the grand jury would take up the matter again, said the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss secret grand jury proceedings.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office has been presenting evidence since January to the grand jury about possible crimes related to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
The payment was made in exchange for Daniels' silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump she said she had a decade earlier.
If indicted, Trump would become the first U.S. president to face a criminal charge in court.
A former National Enquirer publisher testified for the second time before the panel on Monday (March 27), a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The publisher, David Pecker, had offered to help Trump in the run-up to the November 2016 election by buying rights to unflattering stories and not publishing them, a practice known as "catch and kill."
In the case of Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, her agent told the editor in October 2016 that she was willing to go public about the alleged sexual encounter she said she had with Trump.
Pecker and the editor contacted then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen and connected him with an attorney for Daniels. Cohen then negotiated the $130,000 agreement.
Federal prosecutors have said Cohen made the payment at Trump's direction.
Trump has denied an affair took place, and lawyer Robert Costello, who met with Cohen in 2018, has said Cohen told him he acted alone.
Costello testified before the grand jury last week.
Cohen, who testified the previous week, pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges stemming from the payoff and went to prison for the campaign finance violation, among other crimes.
Trump falsely claimed on March 18 that he would be arrested in the case last Tuesday, has repeatedly attacked Bragg, and warned of potential "death and destruction" if he faces criminal charges.
Trump faces several other criminal investigations, including one tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
He continues to claim falsely that his 2020 defeat was the result of fraud.
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