The New York grand jury hearing evidence against Donald Trump is in recess until early next week, a day after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg rejected a demand by House Republicans that he testify about his investigation.
(Bloomberg) — The New York grand jury hearing evidence against Donald Trump is in recess until early next week, a day after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg rejected a demand by House Republicans that he testify about his investigation.
The grand jury was abruptly called off Wednesday without explanation, and when the panel returned Thursday, it heard evidence on other matters, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it isn’t public. There was no explanation from Bragg’s office and the panel was expected to return to court as soon as Monday, the person said.
By law, grand juries operate in secret, and disclosing their work publicly is a crime. The panel does not meet on Fridays.
Bragg impaneled the grand jury in January. It is weighing the possibility of criminal charges against Trump over hush money payments made shortly before the 2016 presidential election to porn star Stormy Daniels to conceal an affair she says she had with Trump. Trump has denied the affair and called Bragg’s probe a political attack.
While the district attorney’s office hasn’t spoken publicly about the status of the investigation, the public will know when his investigation of the former president has been concluded, according to a letter by Bragg’s lawyer in response to a request by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan for Bragg to explain his investigation.
“The District Attorney pledged that the DA’s office would ‘publicly state the conclusion of our investigation whether we conclude our work without bringing charges, or move forward with an indictment.’ He stands by that pledge,” Leslie Dubeck, Bragg’s general counsel, wrote in the letter to Jordan.
“If charges are brought at the conclusion, it will be because the rule of law and faithful execution of the District Attorney’s duty require it,” Dubeck wrote.
The letter capped off a chaotic week. Trump set off security concerns Saturday when he predicted on social media that he’d be arrested Tuesday and called for protests. As a result, security was increased around Bragg’s offices and the surrounding courthouses.
While a demonstration Monday evening outside Bragg’s offices saw only had a handful of demonstrators, on Tuesday, a bomb threat was called in for the courthouse where a suit brought against Trump by the New York attorney general was being heard. The hearing was temporarily put on hold.
When the grand jury resumes its work, it could hear from at least one witness, according to the person familiar with the matter.
Trump on Thursday seized on the pause to claim on social media there was “total disarray” in Bragg’s office.
–With assistance from Greg Farrell.
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