Former Trump attorney Cohen to testify before NY grand jury in porn star hush money probe
The legal jeopardy facing Donald Trump appeared to escalate with the disclosure late Friday that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen intends to testify next weekÌýbefore a Manhattan grand jury in the criminal investigation centering on a hush money payment Cohen paid to a former porn star.
The investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's office focuses on a $130,000 payment that Cohen – long known as Trump's legal and personal fixer – made at the end of the 2016 presidential campaign to Stormy Daniels, who was alleging that she had an affair with Trump. Ìý
Cohen's cooperation in the investigation, and his imminent testimony, was seen as a final step in building a potential case against Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter. The news was first reported , which also that Trump himself was invited to testify before the grand jury.
Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina confirmed the prosecutor's offer to Trump to testify Thursday as a decision loomed onÌýwhether to bring criminal charges against the former president.
“To me, it’s much ado about nothing,†Tacopina told The Associated Press, adding he didn’t think prosecutors had committed “one way or another†on a decision on whether to charge Trump. Tacopina did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about Cohen that was left with his answering service. Another Trump lawyer, Ronald Fischetti, also did not immediately return a message left on his answering machine.
A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alan Bragg declined to comment Thursday about the invitation to Trump. Two DA's office spokespeople did not respond late Friday when asked for comment about Cohen's testimony.ÌýÌý
Trump has fired back at the apparent escalation in the case, calling the district attorney's action to invite him to testify "simply insane."
"For the past five years, the DA’s office has been on a WitchÌýHunt, investigating every aspect of President Trump‘s life, and they’ve come up empty at every turn – and now this," the campaign said in a statement. "The fact that after their intensive investigation the DA is even considering a new political attack is a clear exoneration of President Trump in all areas."
Trump later issued a personal statement regarding the invitation for him to testify, saying that he did "absolutely nothing wrong" and thatÌýthe attorney general's action was an attempt to take down the "leading" Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
He did not indicate whether he would testify before the Manhattan grand jury.
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Late last year, Bragg's office injected new life into the long-running investigation that appeared to be stalled after the resignations of two prosecutors leading the criminal investigation.
Authorities had been investigating the 2016 payment to Daniels, which former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has described as falsely disguised as a legal expense to aid the former president's campaign.Ìý
Cohen has met multiple time with New York prosecutors involved in the investigation.
In December, Bragg appointed former Justice Department officialÌýMatthew Colangelo,Ìýa former acting associate attorney general, as a senior counsel to focus on high-profile white-collar investigations, among other priorities.
At the time, Bragg did not specifically refer to the Trump investigationÌýbut underscored Colangelo's "sound judgment and integrity needed to pursue justice against powerful people and institutions when they abuse their power."
Within days of the Colangelo appointment, Bragg notched an important victory in a separate case when a Manhattan juryÌýconvicted two Trump companiesÌýon allÌýcharges in aÌýcriminal tax fraud scheme.
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Though Trump was not charged in the case and didÌýnot appear in theÌýcourtroom during the trial, the former president's namesakeÌýTrump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation were foundÌýguiltyÌýon charges that included conspiracy, a scheme to defraudÌýand criminal tax fraud. The companies faced maximum penalties of $1.6 million.Ìý
Bragg characterized the verdicts as "consequential," and, invoking the slogan he has attached to the office, "underscores that here in Manhattan we have one standard of justice for all."
In Georgia, authorities also were movingÌýcloser to a decision on whether to bring criminal chargesÌýagainst Trump and his allies in a wide-ranging investigation into interference in the 2020 presidential election.
Atlanta-area District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat,Ìýis considering a range of possible crimes, from solicitation of election fraud and false statements to conspiracy, oath of office violations, racketeering, and violence associated with election-related threats.
Trump also is the focus of a Justice Department special inquiryÌýexamining the former president's involvement in interfering with the transfer of power afterÌýPresident Joe Biden's 2020 election victory and the unauthorized retention of classified documents at his Florida estate.
