Former Trump attorney Cohen to testify before NY grand jury in porn star hush money probe
hush money payment Cohen paid to a former porn star.
The investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office focuses on a $130,000 payment that Cohen – long known as Trump’s legal and personal fixer – made at the end of the 2016 presidential campaign to Stormy Daniels, who was alleging that she had an affair with Trump.
Cohen’s cooperation in the investigation, and his imminent testimony, was seen as a final step in building a potential case against Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter. The news was first reported by the New York Times, which also reported Thursday evening that Trump himself was invited to testify before the grand jury.
Trump at CPAC says indictment wouldn’t push him out of 2024 race
Late last year, Bragg’s office injected new life into the long-running investigation that appeared to be stalled after the resignations of two prosecutors leading the criminal investigation.
Authorities had been investigating the 2016 payment to Daniels, which former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has described as falsely disguised as a legal expense to aid the former president’s campaign.
Cohen has met multiple time with New York prosecutors involved in the investigation.
In December, Bragg appointed former Justice Department official Matthew Colangelo, a former acting associate attorney general, as a senior counsel to focus on high-profile white-collar investigations, among other priorities.
At the time, Bragg did not specifically refer to the Trump investigation but underscored Colangelo’s “sound judgment and integrity needed to pursue justice against powerful people and institutions when they abuse their power.”
Ron DeSantis does a book tour to discuss his Florida record – not Donald Trump
Though Trump was not charged in the case and did not appear in the courtroom during the trial, the former president’s namesake Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation were found guilty on charges that included conspiracy, a scheme to defraud and criminal tax fraud. The companies faced maximum penalties of $1.6 million.
Bragg characterized the verdicts as “consequential,” and, invoking the slogan he has attached to the office, “underscores that here in Manhattan we have one standard of justice for all.”
In Georgia, authorities also were moving closer to a decision on whether to bring criminal charges against Trump and his allies in a wide-ranging investigation into interference in the 2020 presidential election.
President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory and the unauthorized retention of classified documents at his Florida estate.