On Saturday, Trump had said he would be arrested on Tuesday, but as of Wednesday, the grand jury hearing evidence in the Stormy Daniels case had yet to issue an indictment. On Thursday, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sent a letter to three Republican House committee chairmen accusing them of seeking non-public information about a pending criminal investigation, which is confidential under state law. The letter confirmed that Bragg’s office was investigating allegations that Trump had violated New York State penal law.
The grand jury, made up of U.S. citizens residing in Manhattan, convened in January and its proceedings are not public, and prosecutors are barred from discussing them. If indicted, Trump would be the first U.S. president to face criminal charges. He served as president from 2017-2021 and has mounted a third campaign for the White House while facing legal woes on several fronts. Trump also faces federal investigations stemming from his handling of government documents after leaving the White House and alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, as well as a state-level probe in Georgia into whether he unlawfully sought to reverse the 2020 election results there.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, has said he made the payment to Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election at Trump’s direction. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she received the money in exchange for keeping silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels and called the payment a “simple private transaction.” He has said he did not commit a crime and has called the investigation politically motivated. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance law violations and other crimes related to the payment and received a prison sentence.
Bragg’s office said the three Republican House committee chairmen’s accusations “only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene.” It also said the chairmen’s requests for non-public information about a pending criminal investigation were “an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty” and that “Congress cannot have any legitimate legislative task relating to the oversight of local prosecutors enforcing state law.” The grand jury was not expected to meet again until next week at the earliest after media reports said it would not take up the case on Thursday.