Two of Donald Trump’s lawyers say that he has been told he can testify in front of a grand jury in Manhattan. This is part of an investigation into hush money paid to an adult film star who said she slept with the former president.
The defense lawyers told NBC News on Thursday that Trump was not given a subpoena and is not being forced to show up for the investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The lawyers for Trump did not say whether or not he would testify.
The New York Times said Thursday that Trump was told he could go before the grand jury next week. The paper also said that sources said the DA’s office had told Trump’s lawyers that he could be charged with a crime.
The DA’s office did not want to say anything to NBC News.
In a statement released Thursday, a spokesperson for Trump criticized the office and called any possible charges a political attack.
“It’s crazy that the Manhattan District Attorney says he might charge President Trump. The DA’s office has been on a “Witch Hunt” for the past five years, looking into every part of President Trump’s life. “They’ve found nothing at every turn, and now this,” a spokesperson said. “The fact that the DA is even thinking about a new political attack after their long investigation shows that President Trump is not guilty in any way.”
In an interview, Chuck Rosenberg, a legal analyst for NBC News, said that the invitation to appear shows that the investigation is almost over and that prosecutors are “seriously considering charges.”
Rosenberg, a former federal prosecutor, said, “If the Manhattan district attorney just wanted to end the case, that’s easy to do without calling Mr. Trump to testify.”
In January, NBC News said that New York prosecutors had called a grand jury to look into whether or not hush money was paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty in federal court in 2018 to making the illegal payment to Daniels for the “principal purpose of influencing” the 2016 presidential election. He said he did this on Trump’s orders.
The investigation into the payment to Trump has been going on for years and has been led by two different district attorneys. Alvin Bragg will take over the office and the investigation in 2021.
In December, a jury from Bragg’s office found the Trump Organization guilty of all charges in a 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors said was run by the company’s top executives.
Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization and a key witness for the prosecution, was sentenced to five months in prison in January for his part in the scheme. In this case, Trump was not charged.
Last year, Trump was asked to talk about how the Trump Organization does business as part of a civil investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James. During the four-hour deposition, Trump used his right under the Fifth Amendment not to testify against himself many times. A person who knew about that deposition said that Trump pleaded the fifth more than 440 times.
This story was first posted on NBCNews.com.
