The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has indicated to Donald Trump’s legal team that he could face criminal charges over money paid to an adult film star during the 2016 election, four people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times on Thursday.
According to the source, prosecutors have offered Trump the opportunity to testify before the grand jury case next week, which would be an unusual step if he does not plan to face charges. It’s also a sign that a decision on charges is imminent, the Times said. A source later confirmed the offer to testify with The Washington Post.
Trump, who has announced plans to run for president again in 2024, was unable to testify.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office did not return HuffPost’s request for comment on the report.
The DA’s investigation is the longest in a series of criminal investigations into Trump’s conduct and concerns a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump in 2006.
After the Wall Street Journal’s bombshell report on the payment in 2018, longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen admitted to arranging the arrangement a month before the 2016 election in exchange for Daniels’ silence on the alleged affair. Cohen was later found guilty of violating campaign finance laws and sentenced to three years in federal prison, but served only one year.
Meanwhile, Trump has denied that he directed Cohen to pay Daniels and said the money for the payment did not come from the campaign.
A spokesperson for Trump released a statement in response to the Times report, saying the district attorney’s “threat to indict President Trump is just crazy” and slamming the investigation as a “Witch Hunt.”
Just over a month ago, the Times reported that the Manhattan DA’s office was preparing to present evidence to a grand jury assembled for the case and had contacted several people who worked on the Trump 2016 campaign.
The former president remains under investigation by the Department of Justice for his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, riots at the US Capitol and a large number of secret documents found at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida last year. A grand jury in Georgia is also investigating the accused’s role in an attempt to overturn the results of the country’s 2020 presidential election.