In Trump probe, Manhattan grand jury returns to work – KGET 17

from: MICHAEL R. SISAK and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

Published: March 27, 2023 / 09:43 PDT

Updated: March 27, 2023 / 09:45 AM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) – A Manhattan grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump over hush money payments was scheduled to return Monday afternoon to hear more evidence, but there is still no word on when it might be asked to vote on possible indictment.

It was the first time the panel heard testimony in the Trump probe since last Monday, when a witness sympathetic to the former president appeared before a grand jury. Jurors did not meet at all on Wednesday, one of the days they usually convene, and heard other matters on Thursday.

The grand jury is now back on Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity about the secret proceedings. It was not immediately clear whether another witness could be called before the panel.

Trump expressed his expectation that criminal charges were imminent with a March 18 post on his social media platform saying he expected to be arrested last Tuesday. Since then, he has used the lack of an indictment to claim, without providing any evidence, that the investigation is somehow faltering.

The former Republican president also escalated his rhetoric, warning that “potential death and destruction” would accompany any indictment. He also posted a photo of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat. On Thursday, Trump called Bragg, Manhattan’s first black prosecutor, “an animal.”