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By: Hellen Zaboulani
On Monday, the office of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg began presenting evidence to a grand jury in its case against former President Donald J. Trump.
As reported by the NY Times, the prosecutor’s case represents an escalation in the probe and possibly criminal charges against Mr. Trump regarding his alleged role in paying hush money to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign. The first witness at the sitting in Lower Manhattan Monday, was David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, the tabloid that helped broker the deal with infamous porn star, Stormy Daniels.
In the course of the coming months, the Grand Jury will be given more details and testimony regarding the payment allegedly made to Ms. Daniels. Other possible witnesses will include National Enquirer’s former editor, Dylan Howard, and two employees at Mr. Trump’s company, namely Jeffrey McConney and Deborah Tarasoff, people with knowledge of the prosecutor’s case speculated.
The prosecutors recently subpoenaed phone records and other documents relating to the alleged payoff, signifying that they may be looking for additional witnesses. Other possible witness accounts may include officials from Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, per the source for the Times. Of course, the case would also rely on the testimony of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former lawyer and former Vice President of Trump Org, who himself pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges related to the alleged payoff.
To actually convict Mr. Trump in a criminal felony, will be a difficult feat, because proof will be needed showing that the former president and his company knowingly falsified records to hide the payout from voters days before his first election. This attempted bump up from an alleged misdemeanor to a potential low-level felony charge would be reliant on an untested legal theory. Per the Times, if Mr. Trump were to be convicted in the case, he would potentially face a maximum sentence of four years, but prison time would not be mandatory.
Even if the case fails to convict Mr. Trump, however, it will still hurt his chances in his third presidential campaign. Inconveniently for Mr. Trump, the legal proceeding coincided with the first days of his next presidential campaign. Mr. Trump is also being bombarded with a special counsel investigation into his removal of sensitive documents from the White House and his actions during the Capitol Attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Adding to his legal hurdles, the district attorney in Georgia may try to indict him for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state.
As per the Times, Mr. Bragg’s current Grand Jury panel into the hush money, first initiated over four years ago, is part of the longest-running criminal investigation into Mr. Trump. Previously, former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. had started presenting to an earlier grand jury in a case focused on Mr. Trump’s business practices– including whether he fraudulently fluctuated the value of his assets to secure favorable loans and for tax benefits. When Mr. Braggs took over as DA, he dropped that case, concerned that it would not have strong legal merit.
Mr. Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the case, and denied an affair with Ms. Daniels. “This is just the latest act by the Manhattan D.A. in their never-ending, politically motivated witch hunt,” the Trump Organization said in a statement.
