Manhattan Grand Jury Hearing Trump Case Breaking for a Month
Laugh. Out. Loud.
How embarrassing.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s grand jury won’t hear the Donald Trump hush money case for the rest of the week…or for at least another month. From Politico:
The grand jury, which heard testimony in the Trump case on Monday, isn’t meeting Wednesday and is expected to examine evidence in a separate matter Thursday, the person said. The grand jury, which typically meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, is scheduled to consider another case next week on Monday and Wednesday, the person said, and isn’t expected to meet Thursday due to the Passover holiday.
The following two weeks are set to be a hiatus that was scheduled when the grand jury was first convened in January, the person said.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
There is no official deadline for bringing an indictment against Trump, although there were indications in recent weeks that the grand jury’s activity was nearing a vote, particularly when prosecutors offered Trump the chance to testify before the panel. That is typically one of the final steps of a criminal investigation. Trump declined the invitation.
Bragg’s office is investigating if Trump paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet about an alleged affair.
The investigation started before Bragg took office in 2022. He suspended the investigation but brought it back when Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign.
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said Trump directed the payment.
Robert Costello, the former legal advisor to Cohen, said Trump had no idea about the payment from Cohen to Daniels. He also described Cohen as a “serial liar.”
Earlier on Wednesday, The Daily Beast became the latest outlet reporting worries within Bragg’s office who think he doesn’t have a case:
His decision to bring back what has been deemed the “zombie” case surprised several insiders who have been briefed on the various iterations of the Stormy Daniels case over the years.
“The Stormy case was the easiest, the most straightforward, but had the risk of being nothing more than a misdemeanor. The business fraud case had more heft, but was complex and sprawling, and much more difficult. There was never any discussion of breaking them apart,” one source told The Daily Beast.
What initially drew prosecutors to the case was the way the Trump Organization paid back Cohen in separate checks broken up over a year, engaged in a monthly cover-up using this private business while Trump was in the White House.
But New York County prosecutors never considered pursuing the hush money case by itself, because, for one thing, investigators on the DA’s Trump team couldn’t even agree whether Trump committed a serious crime.
Another source said, “The hush money case had no exact state charge. It should have been the feds.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York chose not to indict Trump.
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Comments
Embarrassing for whom? The only person who can be embarrassed by this is Trump, who invented the whole “They’re coming to take me away” hoax.
Bragg has never said, implied, or darkly hinted that any arrest was imminent. He made contingency plans in case there was an indictment. He has no control over that, and it would be irresponsible not to make such plans. But the lack of one, at least for now, doesn’t reflect on him at all.
Trump is never embarrassed by anything. Or at least as far as I can tell, he never lets on that he is. It could very well be that the Trump camp did think something was coming, and kicked off all the hullabaloo in an effort to head it off. If so, they succeeded. I recall reading something about exculpatory evidence that hadn’t been brought forward, and someone made a stink over that (despite the fact that, I *think* it wasn’t actually required to be brought forward). Perhaps that part of the episode convinced Bragg to hold off a while/indefinitely.
I agree, Trump is never embarrassed about anything, including having sex with a porn star, or about bragging that he can grab any women he wants by the pussy.
Don’t perpetuate the hoax. He never said he could grab any woman by the vajajay. They were talking specifically about Hollywood hanger-on money-grubber types, and Trump said “…. they let you grab them by the….”
Talk to women and girls who are not Trump partisans about what they think of that comment coming from a Hollywood person and you will find few of them think that “they let you” shows consent, particularly when Hollywood is well known as the place where creeps will sexually abuse women.
Second knowing that why was Trump so desperate to impress Billy Bush that he decided to despite being recorded leave such a comment that could be ruinous to himself?
If you talk to a reporter you are being recorded.
I don’t think Trump touches women without their permission (although that statement does make it sound like he did to most women who hear it) or has ever done so but I do think he is a man of no discipline at all who is desperate to impress whoever is nearby even when it is clearly not a good idea (including the reporter Billy Bush).
“They let you” literally does show consent. That’s what the words mean.
F88k me 😂😂 This is the problem when you let other people do your thinking for you JR. you start believing any old shit even though you could actually listen to the words used. But you know, why would you believe your own ears when you already had OMB cause you grabbed ya by the feelzzzz! 😂
Truer words were never spoken. Most people won’t even bother to go right to the source and judge for themselves. They have to “wait to gather the facts” (aka, let’s see what other people say first) and then make up their minds.
BTW, here’s another bombshell that came out Monday night about hoaxes and Trump:
https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/durham-bombshell-fbi-text-message-shows-clinton-lawyer
Of course, like Fuzzy says “TD’LR. I. Don’t. Care.” Mind made up. Orange Man Bad. Facts don’t matter. Move on.
After all of these legal battles with Trump always proven to be innocent, surely he deserves to be crowned as “the most innocent man on earth” by now. “Mr. Squeaky Clean”. Trump hatred knows no bounds.
Even if the Trump team was trying to get ahead of the story and use the press to blunt Bragg’s efforts, the honest person needs to ask themselves one question:
Would it have worked if it wasn’t completely believable?
Michael Cohen’s former lawyer looks to have nuked Bragg’s case at this point.
Bragg had no case to begin with
True. I read that Costello presented emails and whatnot that the jury had not seen and he told Tucker that Bragg had cherry-picked evidence he provided. After that, Bragg has done nothing, but delay.
I think you’re mistaken about whether Trump “invented” this “hoax.” I seem to recall reading a news article about this indictment before Trump wrote his tweet. I had the definite impression from his tweet also that he was reacting to an article. I’ll try to backtrack to find it. I agree that Bragg was not the one who spilled the beans.
Here. This one.
I think this story is from the day before the tweet.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/17/trump-grand-jury-new-york-law-enforcement-prepping-for-indictment.html
It’s dated two days before this one, which places the tweet on Saturday, between these stories.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/18/politics/donald-trump-manhattan-da-arrest-protests/index.html
Law enforcement was preparing contingency plans for a possible indictment. Of course they were. How could they not? That would be completely irresponsible of them. That could not possibly have justified Trump’s bizarre claim that THEY”RE COMING TO ARREST ME ON TUESDAY, PROTEST! PROTEST! PROTEST! and that this came from an ILLEGAL LEAK!!!!!!! He made that up himself. His lawyers admitted that he had no information at all that could have led him to that conclusion, and there was certainly no illegal leak. Or any kind of leak. Not even a leek salad, or leek patties (which are delicious).
I tracked down two articles supporting exactly what I said, so you want to now niggle about yet another detail. There’s really no need to whip yourself up into such a high dudgeon so early in the election cycle.
It’s not “another detail”. It’s the entire story. Trump’s claim was that there had been an “illegal leak” that there was a plan for officers to come to Florida and arrest him that Tuesday. There was absolutely no basis whatsoever for that claim. He invented it. He pulled out of his rectum. There was no leak, and there was no plan.
Of course everyone knew that the grand jury was sitting, and therefore an indictment was (and remains) a distinct possibility. And if/when he is indicted, it is likely that there will be some sort of disturbance of the peace, and the police need to have a plan for how they will respond. Just as the DC police have a plan for what they will do should Biden fall off the perch, since that’s something that could easily happen and they’d be irresponsible not to plan for it. To use the NYPD planning as a basis for Trump’s claim would be like using the WPD’s planning as a basis for claiming that there’s an assassination plot afoot.
Liar.
I agree. Trump keeps telling everyone that he is going to be arrested, and then he tells them the exact date. And of course it never happens, although he has raised millions of dollars over his false claim, which is exactly what he wanted. Just like a false doomsday prophet who tells you exactly when the world will end on day xxx. That’s what Trump has reduced himself to. This will keep Trump in the news again for the next 30 days, which is exactly what he wants, and exactly what the liberal news media wants. The focus will not be on the Biden administration and all of its faults, but it will all be about Trump, which is exactly what Trump wants. Trump will raise millions of more dollars from the poor who march with him lock and step.
Poor JR. His hopes were dashed again and he’s left to futilely whine about Trump with every post on LI.
Yeah because they haven’t been coming for him for the last 7 years right? 🙄
No, they haven’t been coming for him. They’ve been going after him all right, but nobody has ever tried to arrest him, or planned to do so. IF AND WHEN he is indicted, he will be invited to surrender; there won’t be any raid to drag him away in handcuffs.
But his bizarre tweet claimed that he had specific information, based on an “illegal leak”, that they were actually planning to arrest him that Tuesday. That was the entire message of his tweet. And he was lying through his teeth. There was no illegal leak, and no plan to arrest him that Tuesday or any time soon. Whether he is indicted is not up to Bragg, who has no knowledge of when or whether it might happen.
Look at you trying to play word games darling 😂😂😂
Democrats have been gunning for Trump the second he came down that elevator. They’ve been coming for him with EVERY possible weapon they have weaponised in their armoury but hey…you play word games all you want 😂😂
Milhouse is caught in a box and is trying to find a way out
“IF AND WHEN he is indicted, he will be invited to surrender; there won’t be any raid to drag him away in handcuffs.”
Just like Roger Stone, right?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/roger-stones-predawn-fbi-arrest-operation-sparks-controversy
I believe Trump released that statement about being indicted on Tuesday to take control of the narrative and put Bragg on defense. Notice that the statement was made on Friday afternoon, the time other important news stories are not typically released going into the weekend. So, there were no competing stories and all everyone had to talk about was the potential political prosecution. A whole weekend of backlash towards Bragg.
Strategically, it was a very good move. Bragg has been completely on defense ever since and whether or not it’s actually true, looks like he is trying to find a graceful exit.
Here are some competing stories from that weekend: Banking collapse of three prominent banks, Fed/FDIC/Tres meeting all.weekend floating various fixes, Putin and Xi meeting face to face and broadening their mutual support, the Biden WH unilaterally rejecting a ceasefire offer in Ukraine as unacceptable….lots of important things were occurring and all harmful to the Biden administration.
It isn’t reasonable to proclaim that there were not competing stories that were driven off the headlines and out of TV hits by Trump’s announcement.
James O’Keefe also revealed a few days ago of having plants in the DA’s office. So Bragg’s plans were known by others. And I do remember reading at least one article reporting the Trump’s arrest was imminent before Trump made his statement.
So once again, Trump makes a statement, gets excoriated for it for the usual OMB lies and then is proven to have been correct. This has been a consistent pattern for so long that you would think people would notice by now. Trump is a shrewd operator who gets his facts before he acts. If he is guessing, he sure is a great guesser.
Sure he is and he played the media in pulling their attention and coverage to himself. He got lots of PR mileage out his post on Truth.
However that PR mileage did in fact knock other things out of the headlines and off of TV. That’s all I am arguing here, that James h was incorrect in asserting that ‘there were no competing stories’. There were plenty of competing and frankly more import stories that got shoved aside for ‘Trump theater’.
@commochief: And it sure helped him in the polls:
https://www.foxnews.com/official-polls/fox-news-poll-trumps-lead-grows-in-gop-primary-race-now-over-50-support
Kinda puts to bed the phony claims that people are getting tired of Trump’s “antics.
Again cool but not applicable to the point here which is whether the clever play of the media by Trump knocked more important news off out of the headlines and off TV which is exactly what occurred.
Trump is an absolutely spectacular showman and a master of manipulating the media into talking about him. Which, let’s face it, isn’t that hard b/c the media know the ratings will follow for anything Trump related.
The Trump team went on offense and beat Bragg to whatever it is he was planning. It was an excellent tactical move.
As I said before, it wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t so easily believable that Bragg would do exactly what they said he was doing, no matter how unjust.
Defending Bragg? Trump invented it? As if you know. Why the plans if nothing was afoot? Why the Grand Jury in the first place? It’s more likely that Costello had an impact that changed the dynamic. But let’s defer to people that claim superior knowledge.
There is a grand jury. It might (or might not) indict Trump, on its own schedule. So of course the police make contingency plans, because that is their job. Trump INVENTED his claim that there had been an “illegal leak” and that there was a specific plan to arrest him that week. Trump is and has always been a conscienceless liar.
Remember that time he said they were spying on him? You are so sure, but he may well have received info about an impending indictment. It may have been a way to get out front. Would Costello have appeared? Keep glossing that there was a Grand Jury in the first place, what almost every legal expert says is a farce. Go after Trump’s alleged lies. He’s proven more truthful than his adversaries, by far, the ones that did not spy on him.
Two of Bragg’s prosecutors quit a couple of weeks ago reportedly because they refused to go on with Bragg’s case. You are so full of crap. You Trump haters have created such a convoluted case that you keep tying yourselves up into knots. So you just lie.
The grand jury has been broken for more than a month. Just sayin’.
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of left voices suddenly cried out in coitus interuptus and were silenced.
This whole episode of ‘get Trump’ is very flipping poorly conceived and executed in a less than amateurish fashion. It’s a transparent attempt to find (manufacture) a way to hit Trump by a partisan DA action on ideological grounds. The only thing Trump did wrong here, if anything, was agreeing to a payoff in exchange for an NDA and that’s assuming he even authorized the payment. The case is hot garbage.
Of course it’s garbage. The case in Georgia is garbage too. The documents case may not be garbage, or at least not quite that level of garbage.
But Trump’s tweet was garbage too.
The bombastic post by Trump was ill advised. Which even he seems to have belatedly recognized by taking it down. I honestly think he believes he has an obligation to performing a role to type. Much like a pro wrestler adopts a persona and then must stay in character at all times lest the marks see through through the act if they break kayfabe.
On the other hand, Trump has no official status as anything, represents nobody, and is responsible only to himself; whereas all the other garbage being thrown about is the work of duly elected or appointed public servants representing significant political constituencies. Trump can spew all the garbage he wants personally — the others should answer for it professionally.
Gee. It sounds like you just want to dismiss all the nonestablishment voters, who either stopped voting or voted D, that Trump brought in in 2016.
How establishment.
Kinda yes but kinda no. From Biden’s inauguration until Nov 15, 2022 when he declared his candidacy for the GoP nomination for President in 2024 he was purely a private citizen. Once he declared his candidacy he then officially became a candidate and many of his prior supporters rallied to his cause.
In very real sense that is his current constituency which he hopes to broaden enough among registered GoP voters to win the GoP nomination and among the larger public, particularly independent voters, in the fall of ’24 to win the general election contest.
Unfortunately for Trump many of his most devoted followers are no longer or were never registered GoP voters and in more than a.few States are ineligible to vote in the GoP primary unless they register a party affiliation. Even in the States where his non registered supporters could vote in a primary many are not used to doing so and may be unfamiliar with the process of voting outside ‘election day’ in November.
The documents case is garbage,. absolute garbage, the FBI has had every scrap of paper from Mar a Lago since August, if there were any illegality, it would have been charged by now
Trump did NOT agree to a payoff. There was no “affair”. How do we know? Stormy Daniels signed a letter to the court declaring that she never had an affair with Trump. Cohen took out a heloc to pay her for his own reasons and claimed it was because he didn’t want his wife to know about it (????).
Cohen has confessed that he was never reimbursed for the payoff. Costello stated that there were no payments. This is all court records. The entire episode was another hoax. Yet absolutely everyone keeps reporting about an affair without pointing out that it never happened. They don’t even say alleged.
Seriously, Trump is a germ-o-phobe who surrounds himself with beautiful women. I have a very hard time believing he would stoop to having an affair with a dirty old porn actress. There isn’t even the slightest evidence that they have ever met. The real question to ask is what was Cohen paying her for? And why didn’t HE not want his wife to discover the payment?
That’s why I used the phrase ‘if anything’ to denote that Trump may not have done anything at all in this episode; other than having hired Cohen into his retinue as his designated fixer/Attorney.
This whole case by Bragg is hot garbage.
Calling it like I see it…not trying to say something for or against Trump.
This looks like the move Bragg would make when he wants to drag out the unknown as long as possible because he knows that when the known is public that he will have nothing to show for it.
My first thought was, not close enough in time yet to any election.
I agree that this is part of it. He may also want more time to pressure the jury to change their minds. Maybe jurors will begin begging out for personal reasons? If so, we need to take a real close look at their replacements.
Finally, an adult picture of President Trump
Meep-meep.
When did hush money become a crime, especially when it wasn’t paid with campaign funds? If Trump had done that a campaign finance violation would have occurred. Seems like a “damned if you do damned if you don’t” situation is being set up.
Well, at one point Trump drank a diet coke. There was once a media report of him drinking diet coke therefore it is a dogwhistle for his support. Therefore, all money spent on diet coke, regardless of source, is campaign spending and must be reported as such or a campaign finance violation has occurred.
There was no Trump hush money. There was only Cohen hush money.
Exactly correct. Paying off a blackmailer with campaign funds is a direct violation of campaign law. Trump paid off his blackmailer with personal funds, which is perfectly legal. The fuzzy comes in where Cohen first claimed to have negotiated the non-disclosure agreement for Trump, then claimed he did it on his own and paid it with personal money, then flipped again to claim Trump knew all about it. The third flip happened when the prosecutor was offering a dishonest plea deal in which Cohen would plead guilty to several things which were not crimes in return for being given a pass on several felonies which would have meant serious jail time. In short, the prosecutor got Cohen to ‘compose’ for him, and he can’t turn around and say anything close to the truth because the prosecutor can still send him up the river. So he gets to be a puppet for the anti-Trump crusade.
“What initially drew prosecutors to the case was the way the Trump Organization paid back Cohen in separate checks broken up over a year, engaged in a monthly cover-up using this private business while Trump was in the White House.” Um… Not a lawyer here, but isn’t this called a retainer?
Turning down the heat under the frog pot just a little as he got a bit jumpy.
TRUMP INDICTED! So much for those claiming he invented this!