By the end of last week it seemed pretty clear that DA Alvin Bragg intended to indict and arrest former President Trump. There were reports that officials in New York were making plans for possible protests. And then Saturday morning Trump himself predicted that he would be arrested on Tuesday and called for people to protest in the streets. Obviously that didn’t happen. Today, the grand jury, which usually meets on Wednesdays, was told to stay home for reasons that aren’t clear.
The Manhattan ‘hush-money’ grand jury has been told not to come in on Wednesday, a cancellation that comes on the brink of a possible historic indictment vote of former President Donald Trump, according to two law enforcement officers.
And while nothing beyond Wednesday is set in stone, it is unlikely that the grand jury will meet at all this week, said one of the law enforcement sources, who spoke to Insider on condition of anonymity.
There’s some speculation that the shift has to do with testimony the grand jury heard Monday from Robert Costello who accused Bragg’s star witness, Michael Cohen, of being a liar.
Robert Costello, an attorney who has previously represented Trump allies like Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani, testified before the grand jury in New York for nearly three hours Monday afternoon after appearing at the request of the former president’s legal team…
“I’ve listened to Michael Cohen stand in front of the courthouse and say things that are directly contrary to what he said to us,” Costello said Monday after his appearance before the grand jury.
“Let them see exactly who Michael Cohen is and was at that moment,” Costello added, referring to the grand jury. “Now he’s on the revenge tour. I understand it but I don’t condone it. And that’s why I went in there today to tell these people who the real Michael Cohen is and what he was actually saying at that moment in time.”
Were Bragg’s plans suddenly shifted because of Costello’s testimony or is something else going on? Fox News is reporting there is ‘dissension’ taking place inside the DA’s office.
Two sources familiar told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the grand jury was canceled amid “major dissension” within the district attorney’s office. One source claimed the district attorney is having trouble convincing the grand jury on potential charges due to the “weakness” of the case.
Despite rumors of a potential imminent indictment, sources familiar told Fox News Digital that Trump has not been formally notified about whether Bragg actually plans to bring charges against him.
Sources told Fox News, though, that there remains a real chance that Bragg does not choose to indict the former president.
Maybe the issue isn’t Costello per se but the case itself which even the NY Times has repeatedly suggested is based on a relatively untested legal theory. The NY Times published a lengthy story about that today. Here’s a sample:
A New York Times review and interviews with election law experts strongly suggest that New York state prosecutors have never before filed an election law case involving a federal campaign. Bringing an untested case against anyone, let alone a former president of the United States, carries the risk that a court could throw out or narrow the case…
In New York, falsifying business records can be a crime, and Mr. Bragg’s office is likely to build the case around that charge, according to people with knowledge of the matter and outside legal experts…
But for falsifying business records to be a felony, not a misdemeanor, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors must show that Mr. Trump’s “intent to defraud” included an intent to commit or conceal a second crime. That crime could be a violation of election law, under the theory that the payout served as a donation to Mr. Trump’s campaign, because it silenced Ms. Daniels and shut down a potential sex scandal in the final stretch of the campaign…
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have said that the theory that the money amounted to a campaign donation is fatally flawed. One of the lawyers recently argued in television interviews that Mr. Trump approved the payment to protect his family from false accusations, noting that Mr. Trump has long denied a sexual encounter with Ms. Daniels.
So it’s somewhat believable that the grand jury might be having a hard time buying into this. And that in turn could be creating problems within his office. Alternatively, it’s also possible people are reading too much into a minor scheduling change. I guess we’ll know more tomorrow when we see if the grand jury is back or if they are told to stay home for a second day, effectively putting off any further action until next week.
