The New York grand jury considering possible criminal charges against former President Donald Trump related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election is not expected to be asked to vote on an indictment this week, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The grand jury is not expected to meet on Wednesday, the sources said, the next day the panel was regularly scheduled to convene.
The development comes a day after the grand jury concluded its activities on Monday without voting on any indictment stemming from allegations made by Daniels, an adult film star who said she had an affair with Trump beginning in 2006.
NBC News reported in late January that prosecutors had convened a grand jury to hear testimony in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe into the $130,000 payment to Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. The investigation has been focused on allegations that Trump falsified business records in connection with the payment.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, pleaded guilty in 2018 to making the illegal payment to Daniels for the “principal purpose of influencing” the 2016 presidential election, saying in federal court that he did so on Trump’s orders, and that Trump paid him back.
Cohen, who sentenced to three years in prison in connection with the payment and other crimes, testified before the Manhattan grand jury this month.
The grand jury heard from an additional witness in the investigation on Monday.
The panel has been meeting Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The sources cautioned that the schedule is subject to change, but that the grand jury for now is expected to return on Thursday to hear a matter separate from the Trump hush money case.
Trump has repeatedly said that he did not have a relationship with Daniels and has denied any wrongdoing regarding the payment.
“I never had a relationship with her. I never had an affair with her. It’s all made up,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity during an interview that aired Monday night.
Trump, who maintained that the payment to Daniels was not a campaign contribution, also claimed that Bragg’s probe was an effort at cheating in elections by his opponents. “It’s called election interference,” he said on Fox News.
