Donald Trump’s former right-hand man is preparing to testify before a grand jury for an investigation that appears likely to produce a criminal indictment for the former president.
Michael Cohen, a long-time friend and attorney for Trump, is expected to testify in Manhattan next week about alleged hush money payments he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. The $130,000 payment, while not illegal by itself, might have been linked to Trump’s successful campaign for the White House, prosecutors say.
CHARGES POSSIBLE AS PROSECUTORS INVITE TRUMP TO TESTIFY ON STORMY DANIELS PAYMENT
Cohen is one of the only players in the hush-money scheme left to testify, according to the New York Times, as only Daniels has not testified in the case. With his testimony expected next week, and an invitation to Trump himself to testify on Thursday, it appears likely that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is putting the finishing touches on his case before asking the grand jury to hand down an indictment for Trump.
In New York, defendants in investigations have the right to testify and answer questions the grand jury has for them before an indictment is handed down, though they rarely take advantage of the opportunity. Trump is not expected to appear before the grand jury.
"The Manhattan district attorney's threat to indict President Trump is simply insane,” a Trump spokesman said in a statement after the invitation was publicized. “For the past five years, the DA's office has been on a witch hunt, investigating every aspect of President Trump's life, and they've come up empty at every turn — and now this."
In a statement on Truth Social Thursday, Trump insisted he had done “absolutely nothing wrong,” and said the investigation was a “political Witch-Hunt trying to take down the leading candidate” in the 2024 White House race.
Earlier this month, Cohen told reporters he was expecting the call to testify before the grand jury “very soon.” Trump’s former fixer has met with investigators more than a dozen times to detail his involvement in paying Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep their previous relationships with Trump quiet during the election.
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In February, Cohen gave Bragg’s office his cellphones as part of the investigation.
Cohen pleaded guilty and was convicted of making the payments in 2018.