NEW YORK (AP) – Law enforcement officials in New York are making security preparations for the possibility that former President Donald Trump could be indicted in the coming weeks and appear in a Manhattan courtroom in an investigation examining money paid to women he allegedly met. sexual. with him, four law enforcement officials said there.
There has been no public announcement of any timeline for the grand jury’s secret work, including a potential vote on whether to indict the former president.
A law enforcement official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said authorities were only prepared for indictments.
He described the conversation as preliminary and considered the security, planning and practicality of a potential court appearance by the former president.
Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, told The Associated Press that if Trump is indicted, “we will follow normal procedures.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office had no comment. A message was left for the court administrator.
The grand jury has heard from witnesses including former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who said he arranged payments in 2016 to two women to keep quiet about alleged sexual encounters with Trump a decade ago.
Trump has denied the incident, saying he did nothing wrong and calling the investigation a “witch hunt” by Democratic prosecutors seeking to sabotage the Republican 2024 presidential campaign.
“Democrats have been investigating and attacking President Trump since before he was elected — and they’ve failed every time,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement Thursday about the investigation.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has been looking into whether state law was violated in the payment or the way the Trump company compensated Cohen for his work in keeping the woman’s allegations under wraps.
Daniels and at least two former Trump aides — political adviser Kellyanne Conway and former spokeswoman Hope Hicks — are among witnesses who have met with prosecutors in recent weeks.
Cohen said that at Trump’s direction, he arranged payments totaling $280,000 to porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. According to Cohen, the payment was to buy silence about Trump, who was then in his first presidential campaign.
Cohen and federal prosecutors said the company paid $420,000 in restitution of $130,000 to Daniels and to cover bonuses and other expenses. The Company classifies these payments internally as legal fees.
A $150,000 payment to McDougal was made by the publisher of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer, which prevented the story from appearing.
Federal prosecutors agreed not to prosecute the Enquirer’s parent company in exchange for cooperation in the campaign finance investigation that led to charges against Cohen in 2018. Prosecutors said the payments to Daniels and McDougal amounted to an impermissible amount, an unrecorded gift for Trump’s election effort.
Cohen pleaded guilty, was jailed and fired. Federal prosecutors have never charged Trump with any crime.
Reported long from Washington. Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed.