Donald J. Trump Facing New Grand Jury in Manhattan, New York

New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg's decision to reopen the probe into whether or not the former president paid hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep their affair secret during his first presidential campaign is a significant development in the case.

The $130,000 hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Gregory Clifford) to cover up her affair with former twice impeached, defeated, and disgraced President Donald J. Trump was illegal and led former lawyer Michael Cohen to plead guilty and serve prison time.

An investigation into Trump's participation was stalled in the Southern District of the Department of Justice (SDNY) while he held office. In the days following the January 6 insurrection, officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) decided that there were so many other more serious charges that prosecuting for the campaign finance violation might be a waste of resources.

However, now that Trump's tax returns have been released by the Treasury Department and the 117^th Congress, we now know he dedicated the $130,000 hush money payment as a business expense. The conviction of Trump's Chief Financial Officer Alan Weisselberg and the Trump Organization for tax fraud. The Manhattan DA has reignited its efforts to bring Trump to justice.

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Information about the formation of the Manhattan Grand Jury is just breaking and experienced, and informed observers, including journalists and lawyers, are wondering if Trump may end up being indicted for his and his three oldest children, who were executives in the Trump Organization for the tax fraud the company and Alan Weisselberg is now serving time in Riker's Island New York prison for currently.

There is a possibility that the Prosecutor conducting the new Manhattan Grand Jury will focus on the hush payment, a campaign finance felony (felonies), in order to give Letitia James to bring to trial the civil suit against Trump et al. for $250 million in damages and then after the completion of that trial to look to indict Trump, his company and other for the same tax crimes.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Bragg's office declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Trump, Ronald P. Fischetti, declined to comment, as did a lawyer for Mr. McConney and Ms. Tarasoff.

However, on Monday, the NY Times reported that…

"One of the witnesses was seen with his lawyer entering the building in Lower Manhattan where the grand jury was sitting. The witness, David Pecker, is the former publisher of The National Enquirer, the tabloid that helped broker the deal with the porn star Stormy Daniels."

"As prosecutors prepare to reconstruct the events surrounding the payment for grand jurors, they have sought to interview several witnesses, including the tabloid's former editor, Dylan Howard, and two employees at Mr. Trump's company, the people said. Mr. Howard and the Trump Organization employees Jeffrey McConney and Deborah Tarasoff have not yet testified before the grand jury."

"The prosecutors have also begun contacting officials from Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign, one of the people said. And in a sign that they want to corroborate these witness accounts, the prosecutors recently subpoenaed phone records and other documents that might shed light on the episode."

"A conviction is not a sure thing, partly because a case could hinge on showing that Mr. Trump and his company falsified records to hide the payout from voters days before the 2016 election, a low-level felony charge that would be based on a largely untested legal theory. The case would also rely on the testimony of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former fixer who made the payment and whom himself pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money in 2018."

"The grand jury panel hearing evidence about the hush money is likely what's known as a special grand jury. Like regular grand juries, it is made up of 23 Manhattan residents chosen at random. But its members are sworn in to serve for six months to hear complex cases, rather than the routine 30-day panels that review the evidence and vote on whether to bring charges in cases of burglary, assault, robbery, murder, and other crimes."

However, the evidence is so developed due to prior investigations and the case brought against Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen that it may not take six months to get indictments.

The New York Times also reported on Monday…

"Over the course of the lengthy inquiry into Mr. Trump and the conduct of his business, the hush money inquiry resurfaced within the district attorney's office with such regularity in recent years that prosecutors came to refer to it as the "zombie theory" — an idea that just won't die."

"The first visible sign of progress for Mr. Bragg came this month when Mr. Cohen appeared at the district attorney's office in Lower Manhattan to meet with prosecutors for the first time in more than a year. He is expected to return for at least one additional interview with the prosecutors in February," one of the people said.

"The lawyer representing Ms. Daniels in the hush money deal, Keith Davidson, is also expected to meet with prosecutors in the coming weeks."

"Mr. Trump's company was instrumental in the deal, court records from Mr. Cohen's federal case show.”

"The prosecutors have also begun contacting officials from Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign, one of the people said. And in a sign that they want to corroborate these witness accounts, the prosecutors recently subpoenaed phone records and other documents that might shed light on the episode."

"A conviction is not a sure thing, partly because a case could hinge on showing that Mr. Trump and his company falsified records to hide the payout from voters days before the 2016 election, a low-level felony charge that would be based on a largely untested legal theory. The case would also rely on the testimony of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former fixer who made the payment and whom himself pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money in 2018."

"Mr. Bragg's decision to impanel a grand jury focused on the hush money — supercharging the longest-running criminal investigation into Mr. Trump — represents a dramatic escalation in an inquiry that once appeared to have reached a dead end."

"Under Mr. Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney's office had begun presenting evidence to an earlier grand jury about a case focused not just on the hush money but on Mr. Trump's broader business practices, including whether he fraudulently inflated the value of his real estate to secure favorable loans and other financial benefits. Yet in the early weeks of his tenure last year, Mr. Bragg developed concerns about the strength of that case and decided to abandon the grand jury presentation, prompting the resignations of the two senior prosecutors leading the investigation."

"One of them, Mark F. Pomerantz, was highly critical of Mr. Bragg's decision and has written a book scheduled to be published next week, "People vs. Donald Trump," detailing his account of the inquiry. Mr. Bragg's office recently wrote to Mr. Pomerantz's publisher, Simon & Schuster, expressing concern that the book might disclose grand jury information or interfere with the investigation."

David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, the tabloid that helped broker the deal with the porn star Stormy Daniels is an essential witness.

The New York Times reports…

The district attorney's office now appears to be focusing on whether erroneously classifying the payments to Mr. Cohen as a legal expense ran afoul of a New York law prohibiting the falsifying of business records.

Violations of that law can be charged as a misdemeanor. To make it a felony, Mr. Bragg's prosecutors would need to show that Mr. Trump falsified the records to help commit or conceal a second crime in what prosecutors would argue was a violation of a New York State election law. That second aspect has largely gone untested and would make for a risky legal case against the former president.

Mr. Pecker's testimony could bolster the prosecution's argument, however. As a longtime ally of Mr. Trump, the publisher agreed during the 2016 campaign to be on the lookout for potentially damaging stories about Mr. Trump.

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In October 2016, Ms. Daniels's agent and lawyer discussed the possibility of selling exclusive rights to her story to The National Enquirer, which would then never publish it, a practice known as "catch and kill."

But as the New York Times points out…

"Mr. Pecker, who two months earlier had spent $150,000 to buy and kill a former Playboy model's story of an affair with Mr. Trump, refused to pay Ms. Daniels as well. He and the tabloid's editor, Mr. Howard, agreed that Mr. Cohen would have to deal directly with Ms. Daniels's team."

Trump appeared to be on his way to getting away with his Stormy Daniels bribe (see the video below). Now it appears he may not get away with it.

                       Book reveals why Trump wasn't charged for Stormy Daniels hush money payments