Nine days have passed since Republican politician Donald Trump rallied his followers over his impending indictment. The former US president faces possible arrest over a hush-money payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels. However, as AFP puts it, nine days later, “the world still awaits what would be one of the most famous police mugshots in history.” On March 18, Trump grabbed headlines with his announcement that he was three days away from being brought before a New York judge. However, it seems like Trump was merely echoing false information or playing a guessing game.
Watch | Did Trump pay adult-film star to not discuss the encounter?
A week later, he announced that the case had been dropped altogether; the announcement was met with due incredulity, says AFP.
Legal analysts have predicted that the billionaire would soon be “facing the music” and the grand jury.
As per AFP, the grand jury reconvened on Monday in Manhattan and heard from the National Enquirer’s former publisher, a key figure in the hush money payment scam.
Trump faces arrest in a probe surrounding the $130,000 he reportedly paid to porn star Stormy Daniels just weeks before the 2016 elections that launched him to America’s highest office. The hush money was allegedly paid in lieu of the adult film star’s silence about a sexual encounter she claims she had with Trump a decade earlier.
Michael Cohen, former president Trump’s ex-lawyer in 2019, told Congress that he had made the $130,000 payment and was later reimbursed. Prosecutors claim that the checks were not registered properly, which equates to a misdemeanour charge. However, if it is proven that the payment was part of a cover-up to aid Trump’s ascent to the presidential office and could land him in jail for several years. Criminal charges, however, would be uncharted territory as to date no sitting or former president has been indicted in the United States.
(With inputs from agencies)
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