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BREAKING NEWS: Manhattan grand jury to hear evidence about Trump’s role in paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in ‘hush money’ to try to kill a story about her ‘affair’
- Witness testimony in the case will begin this week in Lower Mahattan.
- Former National Enquirer editor David Pecker was seen entering the building.
- Daniels alleges she had a brief affair with the married Trump in 2006
Donald Trump’s role in secret money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels will be under the microscope of a grand jury today, it was reported Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office are presenting their case, which could lead to criminal charges, according to the New York Times.
She claims to have slept with Trump in 2006, which the former president denies. He was married to former first lady Melania Trump, who had given birth to her son Barron less than six months before their brief affair.
Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, previously admitted paying $130,000 to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to keep her quiet during the 2016 campaign.
Former President Donald Trump has stood by his denial of the alleged 2006 affair with porn star Stormy Daniels
Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law in 2018 and was sentenced to three years in prison for arranging the payment and a confidentiality agreement.
He told a judge at the time that they were done “in coordination with and under the direction of a candidate for federal office.”
Former Trump ‘fixer’ Michael Cohen admitted to paying Daniels money over the affair
Now, with Trump several years out of office and running another campaign, witnesses are set to begin speaking before the New York City grand jury as prosecutors explain why the former president should be indicted.
On Monday, among the witnesses seen arriving at the Manhattan court proceedings was David Pecker, former editor of The National Enquirer.
He previously admitted to prosecutors that he worked “in concert” with the 2016 Trump campaign to arrange secret payments for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
A statement from the Manhattan prosecutor’s office at the time said it helped facilitate the payments so the women “wouldn’t publish prejudicial allegations” about Trump.
Other expected witnesses include former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard and two Trump Organization employees, according to the Times.
It was revealed late last week that federal prosecutors had discussed charging Trump with campaign finance violations over payments to Daniels and McDougal after he left office.
While Justice Department guidance warned against impeaching a sitting president, there were talks about whether to use evidence collected from Cohen’s 2018 prosecution to go after Trump when his term ended, according to the CNN analyst’s book “Untouchable.” Elie Honig.