Manhattan DA inquiry: A look at the key players in the hush money investigation that could result in Trump’s arrest
Ryan King
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Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office appear to be inching closer toward an indictment against former President Donald Trump revolving around an alleged hush money payment made about seven years ago.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday and called for his supporters to protest.
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Here is a look at the key players in the debacle.
Stormy Daniels
Back in 2006, Trump and adult film star Stormy Daniels, also known as Stephanie Gregory Clifford, crossed paths at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, according to Daniels’s account of events. Daniels claims that she met with Trump at his hotel, where they had an affair.
Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, writing in January, “NEVER HAD AN AFFAIR This is old news” on Truth Social. At the time of the alleged encounter, Trump was 60, and Daniels was 27. His wife, Melania, gave birth to their son Barron around that time as well.
Years later, in 2011, Daniels was poised to give an interview with In Touch detailing the alleged affair for $15,000. The interview never happened and Daniels claims she was never paid, according to CBS. She claimed that she was threatened by a man weeks later who warned her to “leave Trump alone.”
Trump’s foray into the 2016 election rekindled interest in his infidelities. Shortly before he clinched the GOP nod, former Playboy model Karen McDougal began trying to sell details about her alleged affair and approached the National Enquirer, which paid her $150,000 but didn’t publish the story, per court documents.
A lawyer for Daniels later approached the publication about going public, which is how Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen caught wind of the story, per CBS.
She would later meet with Manhattan prosecutors investigating the payment.
Michael Cohen
With the threat of Daniels going public, Cohen moved to establish a firm known as Essential Consultants LLC in 2016. He later transferred $131,000 to that firm by taking out home equity, according to court records.
He then received a signed nondisclosure agreement from Daniels. Several months later, Cohen pursued reimbursement from the Trump Organization for $180,035, which ultimately bumped up payments to $420,000 disbursed over 12 months, court records indicated.
In January 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported on the alleged payment to Daniels. Cohen issued a denial for himself and included a denial he claimed was from Daniels as well. About a month later, he acknowledged the payment. By March, Daniels tapped lawyer Michael Avenatti in a quest to nullify the nondisclosure agreement.
Trump quickly denied knowledge of the exchange between Cohen and Daniels. The FBI raided Cohen’s home and office in April 2018. By August, Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including a campaign finance violation.
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Cyrus Vance
In August 2018, reports emerged that then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance commenced an investigation into the Trump Organization in the wake of Cohen’s plea, zeroing in on falsified business records related to the reimbursements.
His office subpoenaed the Trump Organization and waged a court battle for Trump’s tax returns to investigate the alleged hush money payment. Eventually, his office secured a grand jury indictment against the Trump Organization and former CFO Allen Weisselberg, with the latter eventually serving as a witness in the inquiry.
Alvin Bragg
Vance was succeeded by Alvin Bragg, who was elected to the post in November 2021. During Bragg’s tenure, he managed to secure a guilty plea from Weisselberg and a guilty ruling from a New York judge against the two Trump Organization companies for tax fraud and other violations.
Given the targeting of Trump’s business empire, there was a widespread belief that the Manhattan inquiry had strayed away from the initial point of inquiry regarding the payment to Daniels to Trump’s business dealings.
Throughout 2022, there was reporting that the Trump inquiry stalled, but Bragg was adamant that the investigation was still underway.
Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne
Fueling speculation that the inquiry stalled was the resignation of prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne in February. Pomerantz publicly criticized Bragg for being too skittish about targeting Trump for business crimes, contending that Trump was “guilty of numerous felony violations.”
Reports indicated that the Manhattan investigation returned focus to the hush money payments, which Bragg appeared to view as a more viable case against Trump.
Robert Costello
After Cohen’s guilty plea, he became cooperative with the Manhattan prosecutors, meeting with them and delivering testimony before a grand jury.
Prior to the guilty plea, Cohen had consulted a lawyer named Robert Costello, who gave him advice during the time of the FBI raid in 2018. He publicly claimed that Cohen told him the payment to Daniels was intended to protect Trump’s wife and that Cohen sought a pardon from Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump’s legal team reportedly sought to have Costello appear before the grand jury, which he was expected to do Monday, per the report.
Donald Trump
Trump has long decried the Manhattan investigation against him, routinely denying wrongdoing and blasting it as a witch hunt. Against the backdrop of reports that New York law enforcement was gearing up for security in the event that Trump was indicted, Trump suggested he “will be arrested on Tuesday.”
It is unclear what evidence Trump had to make that assertion. He was invited to deliver testimony before investigators but did not take up the opportunity, according to NPR. Trump also called on his supporters to “protest, take our nation back” as a possible indictment looms.
Prominent Republicans such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have urged supporters not to protest. Many Democrats have likened Trump’s call to protest to his remarks that preceded the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump declared his 2024 campaign last November and is the front-runner in the Republican primary.
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The Manhattan district attorney inquiry is one of several investigations revolving around Trump. The former president is facing scrutiny from an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the Jan. 6 riot and the coinciding efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as the classified document debacle.
He could also be implicated in the Fulton County investigation about efforts by Trump allies to meddle in Georgia’s election back in 2020 and is named in a $250 million civil lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James pertaining to his business activity.