A Manhattan grand jury tasked with investigating a hush money payment between former President Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels is meeting on Thursday after calling off its session the previous day.
The grand jury was expected to meet on Wednesday to vote on whether to indict Trump, but District Attorney Alvin Bragg told the jurors to stay home and be on call for Thursday. It is unclear why the grand jury's proceedings were called off.
DONALD TRUMP INDICTMENT: WHAT TO LOOK FOR IF FORMER PRESIDENT IS ARRESTED
Trump sent his supporters into a frenzy after announcing on Truth Social over the weekend that he was expected to be arrested on Tuesday, but it never happened.
So far, the jury has heard from Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to making the payments to Daniels to prevent her from going public about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2005, as well as Robert Costello, who sought to discredit Cohen's testimony.
It is possible that the grand jury will call another witness to testify as a rebuttal to Costello, who said Cohen was an unreliable witness and was providing conflicting details about the hush money payments.
Bragg's office is investigating whether Trump falsified business records to hide the payments as legal expenses. If an indictment is delivered, it will be the first time criminal charges are brought against a former president in U.S. history.
Trump has been preparing for an arrest, with reports stating that he told his attorneys he wants to be handcuffed while making an initial court appearance and that he wants to stand before the jury in person rather than virtually so he does not appear weak — against the advice of his Secret Service detail.
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The former president also told his legal counsel he didn't care if someone shot at him because, then, he would become "a martyr" and would probably win the presidency in 2024.
Polls are indicating that news of the indictment has, for the time being, garnered significant support for the president. A recent Morning Consult poll taken in the days following the indictment news showed Trump leading Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) 54% to 26%, a 28 percentage point advantage.