Trump-Manhattan DA: Grand jury wraps Monday proceedings with no vote in Trump probe
The Manhattan grand jury wrapped its proceedings Monday afternoon with no vote in former President Trump’s case, two sources told Fox News.
The secret grand jury reconvened Monday in New York City after its proceedings related to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump were canceled twice last week.
Two sources told Fox News on Monday afternoon that the grand jury heard from one witness, David Pecker. Pecker, who has previously testified before the grand jury as part of this case, served as president of National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc.
Bragg has been investigating the $130,000 hush-money payment that then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford. That payment was made in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
Cohen has said Trump directed the payments. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 through his own company and was later reimbursed by Trump’s company, which logged the payments as ‘legal expenses.’
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing with regard to the payments made to Daniels, and he has repeatedly said the payments were ‘not a campaign violation’ but rather a ‘simple private transaction.’
The Trump Organization ‘grossed up’ Cohen’s reimbursement for Daniels’ payment for ‘tax purposes,’ according to federal prosecutors who filed the 2018 criminal charges against Cohen for the payments.
Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019, even as Cohen implicated him as part of his plea deal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.
The grand jury is set to reconvene Wednesday, but it is unclear if they will meet related to the Trump investigation.
Over the weekend, Trump suggested the case had already been dropped against him.
‘I think they’ve already dropped the case,’ Trump told reporters aboard his plane after appearing at his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas.
‘It’s a fake case,’ he said. ‘Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing.’
When asked for comment about Trump’s claim the case has been dropped, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital: ‘This has been dropped because everyone knows this was a partisan witch-hunt by a radical, leftist DA that sought to politically weaponize the Justice system to influence an election.’
Meanwhile, Bragg has slammed House Republicans who have called for him to testify on Capitol Hill about the investigation.
‘We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence. It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending local investigations,’ the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
The office told Fox News Digital that Bragg stands by his previous pledge to publicly state the conclusion of the investigation, ‘whether we conclude our work without bringing charges, or move forward with an indictment.’
When Bragg took over as district attorney in January 2022, he stopped pursuing charges against Trump and suspended the investigation ‘indefinitely,’ according to one of the top prosecutors who resigned from the office in protest.
Prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who had been leading the investigation under former DA Cyrus Vance, submitted their resignations after Bragg began raising doubts about pursuing a case against Trump.
The Manhattan DA’s investigation into Trump began in 2019 by then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance. The probe was focused on possible bank, insurance and tax fraud. The case initially involved financial dealings of Trump’s Manhattan properties, including his flagship Fifth Avenue building, Trump Tower, and the valuation of his 213-acre estate Seven Springs in Westchester.
The investigation last year led to tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and its finance chief, Allen Weisselberg.
Grand jury deliberations and votes are secret proceedings, and an indictment typically remains under seal until an arraignment.
Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.