New York grand jury not expected to hear additional evidence in Trump case this week

The Manhattan grand jury considering former President Trump’s involvement in a 2016 hush payment is not expected to hear additional evidence in the probe this week, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The grand jury is not expected to convene Wednesday and will meet on Thursday to consider a different case, according to the source.

The plans were first reported by NBC News.

The grand jury has been hearing evidence about a $130,000 hush payment that Trump’s personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election as she was prepared to go public with a story about her sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier — an affair Trump denies.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has taken a series of steps in recent weeks that signals prosecutors are nearing a final decision about whether to seek an indictment.

The jury has tended to meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Jurors often hear more than one case while they are empaneled, and the timeline remains fluid as the proceedings continue behind closed doors.

On Monday, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker was seen leaving the building where the grand jury meets. 

A key figure in the probe, Pecker purchased the rights to embarrassing stories about Trump without ever planning to publish them, a practice known as “catch and kill.” But Pecker reportedly declined to pay Daniels to buy her silence, telling Cohen to arrange the payment directly, which he ultimately did.

Outside legal observers suggest Trump’s reimbursement of Cohen could lead prosecutors to seek charges of falsifying business records against the former president if they can show he improperly considered it a legal expense.

But to upgrade the charge to a felony, prosecutors would need to additionally connect the misdemeanor violation of falsifying business records to a separate crime.

After predicting he would be arrested last week, Trump has repeatedly attacked Bragg. The former president’s attorneys have argued he reimbursed Cohen legally with personal funds.