Attorneys for former President Donald Trump have been told that Trump can testify before a Manhattan grand jury next week, four people familiar with the matter told The New York Times.
The grand jury has been hearing evidence regarding Trump's role in making hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who said she had an affair with him in 2006. This offer to testify is a strong sign an indictment is close, as potential defendants in New York have the right to testify before a grand jury prior to being indicted, and it's rare for a district attorney to notify a potential defendant without going on to seek charges, the Times reports. Most potential defendants choose not to appear before the grand jury.
Trump's former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 shortly before the 2016 presidential election, and was later reimbursed by Trump. Prosecutors in Manhattan began investigating the matter in 2018, and Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance charges for his role in the hush money payments, has spoken with them and is expected to testify before the grand jury.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If Trump does become the first former American president to be indicted, "convicting him or sending him to prison will be challenging," the Times says, because the case would be based on "an untested and therefore risky legal theory" of combining the criminal charge falsifying business records with a violation of state election law; prosecutors would argue that the $130,000 payment was an improper donation to Trump's campaign, as Daniels' silence benefited Trump's candidacy. Read more at The New York Times.
-
‘National dynamics will likely be the tipping point’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Two men accused of plotting LGBTQ+ attacksSpeed Read The men were arrested alongside an unidentified minor
-
Israel arrests ex-IDF legal chief over abuse video leakSpeed Read Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi had resigned from her post last week
-
Trump to partly fund SNAP as shutdown talks progressSpeed Read The administration has said it will cover about 50% of benefits
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
‘Not every social scourge is an act of war’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Pentagon unable to name boat strike casualtiesSpeed Read The Pentagon has so far acknowledged 14 strikes
-
41 political cartoons for October 2025Cartoons Editorial cartoonists take on Donald Trump, ICE, Stephen Miller, the government shutdown, a peace plan in the Middle East, Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
Trump limits refugees mostly to white South AfricansSpeed Read The administration is capping the number of refugees at 7,500
-
Judge rules US attorney ‘unlawfully serving’Speed Read Bill Essayli had been serving in the role without Senate confirmation
-
Trump ends Asia trip with Xi meeting, nuke threatSpeed Read Trump had spent the last six days in Asia
