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Trump Has ‘No Plan’ To Testify In Grand Jury As Prosecutors Inch Toward Charges

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Donald Trump seems unconcerned with Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into his alleged involvement in the $130,000 hush payment made to former pornstar Stormy Daniels.

On Monday, Trump’s attorneys revealed the former president would not testify in the grand jury investigation into the 2016 payment.

“We have no plans on participating in that proceeding,” Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC News on Monday. “Decision needs to be made still. There’s been no deadline set, so we’ll wait and see.”

The Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating whether Trump falsified business records in connection with a $130,000 payment Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege the “hush money” was to keep her from talking about a long-denied affair.

Trump has adamantly denied the affair.

On Friday, Cohen reportedly met with prosecutors for over seven hours in the latest sign the investigation into Trump is heating up. The former Trump adviser is scheduled to testify before a grand jury on Monday. (RELATED: Michael Cohen To Testify Monday In Trump Probe)

“My goal is to tell the truth,” Cohen told reporters outside the courthouse, according to the AP.

“This is not revenge,” he added. “This is all about accountability. He needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds.”

Last week, The New York Times reported prosecutors are getting closer to formally charging Trump.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office recently signaled to Donald J. Trump’s lawyers that he could face criminal charges for his role in the payment of hush money to a porn star, the strongest indication yet that prosecutors are nearing an indictment of the former president, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

The prosecutors offered Mr. Trump the chance to testify next week before the grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the potential case, the people said. Such offers almost always indicate an indictment is close; it would be unusual for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, to notify a potential defendant without ultimately seeking charges against him.

In New York, potential defendants have the right to answer questions in the grand jury before they are indicted, but they rarely testify, and Mr. Trump is likely to decline the offer. His lawyers could also meet privately with the prosecutors in hopes of fending off criminal charges.

Any case would mark the first indictment of a former American president, and could upend the 2024 presidential race in which Mr. Trump remains a leading contender. It would also elevate Mr. Bragg to the national stage, though not without risk, and a conviction in the complex case is far from assured.

3 COMMENTS

  1. So when has Michael Cohen EVER told the TRUTH! I hear Soros is behind this. How much is he paying Cohen for this crap?? Isn’t it funny that they have to go back to lil ol Stormy to try and take Trump down?

  2. Nothing but another witch hunt by a group of corrupt disgusting politicians who have no morals and only care about stealing money from the goverment and that is what they are afraid of, getting caught and being exposed by the next president. Donald Trump yay 2024 Trump Wins

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