Grand jury set to resume as former president blasts DA’s probe

The New York City grand jury that for nearly two months has been hearing testimony and reviewing evidence related to a hush money payment benefiting former President Donald Trump is set to resume work Monday.

The grand jury, which could be asked to issue an indictment of Trump today, returns two days after he spoke to supporters at his 2024 presidential campaign’s first rally in Waco, Texas.

Trump during that event accused the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of “prosecutorial misconduct” for investigating him for possible crimes related to how the hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was described in official business records.

The ex-president has attacked Bragg on his social media site Truth Social for more than a week as the threat of an indictment appeared to increase with the testimony of Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen.

Law-enforcement officials say Bragg’s office has received hundreds of threats in recent weeks, including an envelope received Friday that contained non-hazardous white powder and a letter vowing to kill the DA.

Cohen has admitted to paying $130,000 to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, right before Election Day 2016 to keep her quiet about her account of having had sex with Trump one night a decade earlier. Trump, who denies having sex with Daniels, later reimbursed Cohen for the payment, which the Trump Organization claimed was for legal expenses.

In addition to the Manhattan probe, Trump is under criminal investigation by a Georgia prosecutor for potentially illegal efforts to overturn his loss in that state’s 2020 presidential election.

He also faces criminal probes by the U.S. Department of Justice for attempts to block President Joe Biden from being certified as the winner of the 2020 election nationally, and for retaining classified government records at his Florida residence after leaving the White House.