Trump indictment looms closer in NY; grand jurors in Stormy Daniels ‘hush-money’ probe expected back Wednesday

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A Manhattan grand jury heard from yet another witness Monday in the New York “hush-money” investigation that could result in the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump.

The panel, which meets only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, is expected to reconvene on Wednesday to continue its work.

On Monday, grand jurors heard more than two hours of testimony from Robert Costello, an attorney for Trump ally Rudy Giuliani. Prosecutors did not, however, request a rebuttal from Michael Cohen, their star witness in the probe, his lawyer, Lanny Davis, told Insider.

Instead, Cohen waited outside the grand jury room Monday, at the ready should he be called before the grand jury again to challenge Costello’s testimony, Davis said.

Cohen, the prosecution’s most important witness and most vocal advocate, did not end up having the final word in the grand jury room, as he had anticipated — at least not on Monday.

“Mr. Cohen was available for over two hours today, but we are pleased to report Mr. Cohen was not needed,” Davis said in a statement. “Once again we repeat — the facts and documents speak for themselves. Facts do matter.”

In an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Monday, Cohen said he believed Trump’s attorneys wanted Costello to testify before the grand jury because he was the only person willing to make “false statements” about Cohen’s role in the hush-money payments.

“There’s not another dope that’s willing to put his backside on the line for Donald,” Cohen said.

Costello said in an interview with the New York Times after his testimony that he told the grand jury that Cohen wasn’t trustworthy. In his interview with Melber, Cohen struck back.

“I testified before seven congressional committees, the attorney general, district attorney — not one person has turned around so far and said that anything that I told them has not been accurate and truthful,” he said.

A full day of work or more likely still awaits the panel, even if testimony has concluded.

The grand jury would still need to be “charged,” the process when prosecutors explain the potential indictment count by count. Following the charge, the grand jurors would deliberate and vote.

Grand jurors frequently accomplish these tasks quickly, according to former Manhattan prosecutor John Moscow, who handled hundreds of white-collar criminal cases before going into private practice.

“The deliberation and vote can take five minutes,” even in a complex case, he said.

The contents of the indictment would not become public until a judge unseals them. That unsealing typically happens at a defendant’s New York Supreme Court arraignment, the public appearance at which not-guilty pleas are entered before a judge.

Cohen had said that prosecutors wanted him on-hand Monday as a possible rebuttal witness to his former legal advisor, Costello, who promised to tell grand jurors “the truth — what Michael Cohen failed to tell them,” as he left for court in the morning, according to Law 360.

The top counts of any indictment are expected to be a series of low-level felony charges of falsifying business records, possibly reflecting any role Trump and others allegedly played in the payments being hidden from election authorities.

The $130,000 payment guaranteed that adult film actress Stormy Daniels would remain silent in the days before the 2016 presidential election and not go public about a 2006 sexual relationship she alleged she’d had with Trump.

Federal authorities have said the payment was an unlawful campaign contribution. In a 2018 guilty plea, Cohen admitted he wired the money to Daniels’ lawyer “at the direction of the candidate” and for “purpose of influencing the election.”

The grand jury has been meeting in secret since mid-January.