A vote on the Trump case is not expected because the grand jury does not meet on Fridays. (Photo: CNBC)
A Manhattan grand jury will not hear testimony, deliberate, or vote on Thursday’s hush-money case against former President Donald Trump.
This week, a vote on the Trump case is not expected because the grand jury does not meet on Fridays. The grand jury will meet on Thursday to discuss a different case. This grand jury is also a special “investigative” grand jury that has been considering other cases.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating whether Trump broke the law when he allegedly paid hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
The grand jury was also scheduled to meet on Wednesday to hear from at least one more witness from the Trump case, but the meeting was canceled.
Moreover, the grand jury was canceled due to “major dissension” within the district attorney’s office on Wednesday. According to one source, the district attorney is having difficulty persuading the grand jury on potential charges due to the “weakness” of the case.
Despite rumors of an impending indictment, sources told Fox News Digital that Trump had not been formally notified about whether Bragg intends to charge him.
READ ALSO: A Former Georgia Detention Officer Was Charged With Improper Sexual Contact With An Inmate
In addition, when Bragg took over as district attorney in January 2022, he stopped pursuing charges against Trump and suspended the investigation “indefinitely.”
Prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who had led the investigation under former DA Cyrus Vance, resigned after Bragg expressed reservations about pursuing a case against Trump.
The possible charges stem from a $130,000 hush-money payment made to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, by then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
In 2019, the Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to charge Trump with the Daniels payment, despite Cohen implicating him as part of his plea deal. In 2021, the Federal Election Commission also abandoned its investigation.
Trump, according to Cohen, directed the payments. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 through his own company and was later reimbursed by Trump’s company, which logged the payments as “legal expenses.” Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who allegedly had a relationship with Trump, was paid $150,000 through the publisher of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer.
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing concerning the payments made to Daniels, claiming that they were “not a campaign violation” but rather a “simple private transaction.”
Former Cohen legal adviser Robert Costello testified before the grand jury on Monday that Cohen is a “serial liar.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into the Trump case was launched in 2019 by then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance. The investigation focused on the potential bank, insurance, and tax fraud. The case initially focused on Trump’s Manhattan properties, including his flagship Fifth Avenue building, Trump Tower, and the valuation of his 213-acre Westchester estate, Seven Springs.
Last year, the Trump Organization and its finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, were charged with tax evasion.
Grand jury deliberations and votes are kept private, and an indictment is usually kept sealed until an arraignment.
