Delay in Possible New York Indictment for Trump’s Alleged Hush-Money Payments

Former US President Donald Trump recently attended his first campaign rally after announcing his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election in Waco, Texas. However, he may face legal trouble in New York over a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. On March 18, Trump declared that he was three days away from being charged, but the grand jury convened by Manhattan’s chief local prosecutor has continued to hear witnesses. With holidays and a scheduled two-week break in April, the grand jury may not consider the case again before the end of the month. The investigation centers on a $130,000 payment made to Daniels weeks before the 2016 election to prevent her from going public about a sexual encounter she had with Trump a decade earlier. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before the grand jury that he made the payment on Trump’s behalf and was later reimbursed. The district attorney may seek to upgrade misdemeanor charges of falsifying business records to a felony if they can convince the grand jury that the payment and accounting were part of a cover-up to benefit Trump’s election campaign. This investigation is one of three major probes into Trump, who faces felony investigations in Georgia relating to the 2020 election and in Washington over the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters. Trump has called all of these investigations “witch hunts” and political persecutions.