Grand jury activity continued on Monday after Former President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday in connection with an investigation into alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump insider Robert Costello arrived at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on Monday to testify to the grand jury at the request of the Trump legal team. Costello has said he can offer evidence that contradicts when Michael Cohen, a key witness against Trump, has said publicly about alleged hush money payments.
Cohen also arrived by car Monday, saying the prosecutor’s office had him on standby to respond to Costello’s testimony.
“Sounds like he’s going to be a surrogate for Trump testifying,” Former Federal Prosecutor Shan Wu said of Costello.
The continuing activity this week suggests Trump may have jumped the gun over the weekend when he announced on his Truth Social account that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday.
Though Trump’s lawyers have said no one has told them Trump will be arrested, Alina Habba, an attorney for the former president, also said “I think it’s not speculation.”
“It’s something that we’re hearing,” Habba said. “He needs to get ahead of it.”
The case against Trump does appear to be entering its final phase before District Attorney Alvin Bragg will decide whether to charge Trump.
The grand jury has been hearing evidence in the alleged hush money scheme dating back to 2016.
The question at play pertains to whether any campaign finance laws were violated and whether records were falsified.
Trump denies all accusations.
Harvard constitutional professor and former Trump impeachment lawyer Alan Dershowitz told 7NEWS this week he thinks the case is weak.
Still, he said that doesn’t mean Trump will be able to avoid a charge and possible arrest.
“In New York, you could probably get a petty jury to convict a ham sandwich if his name is Donald Trump so, he is in legal peril,” Dershowitz said. “Probably, in the end, the conviction would never be confirmed, but that could be two years from now.”
As proceedings continue, Trump has also troubled critics by calling for protests if he is arrested.
Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch, a Democrat, said the call sounds like the same calls to supporters that preceded the January 6 riots.
“I heard this morning on the radio, some of his supporters saying that ‘If they go after our guy, we’re going after their guys,’ seemingly in a confrontational manner,” Lynch said. “That type of violent rhetoric is not needed right now.”
The grand jury in New York had to vote to decider whether or not it wanted to hear from witnesses available on Monday. Since grand jury proceedings are supposed to be secret, it was unclear as of Monday afternoon whether the grand jury had heard from the day’s witnesses.
Cohen, meanwhile, said he didn’t know whether he might then be a rebuttal witness to Costello before the grand jury or whether he will possibly just give a statement to the District Attorney.
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