The Manhattan district attorney’s office has convened a new grand jury to evaluate former president Donald Trump’s role in 2016 hush money payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, people with knowledge of the investigation confirmed.
Cohen, who was recently at the district attorney’s office in Lower Manhattan for an interview with investigators, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan in 2018 to campaign finance fraud charges related to the payments. Trump has denied involvement in the payoff and has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels.
Past long-term grand juries convened by the district attorney’s office in its Trump investigation have heard evidence and issued subpoenas. One panel indicted the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg in connection with a 15-year tax fraud scheme. The company was convicted at trial in December and has been ordered to pay a $1.6 million fine. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to all counts in August and was sentenced to five months in jail. He had been facing up to 15 years in prison.Bragg’s predecessor Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened a probe into Trump and his business activities in 2019, initially taking an interest in the Daniels payment but seemingly deciding it was not a viable avenue for prosecution.
Under Bragg, the focus has come back to Daniels and the payments. His administration appears less inclined to pursue a criminal case on the asset valuation elements of the probe, which would require a high burden of proof to reach a conviction. New York Attorney General Letitia James has a pending $250 million lawsuit against Trump, three of his adult children, Weisselberg and the company over the alleged asset valuation conduct. A trial has been scheduled for later this year.
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