Trump Closer to Criminal Charges in Probe of Hush Money Payments - PEOPLE

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The Manhattan District Attorney's office has begun presenting evidence to a grand jury in what the New York Times reports is a dramatic escalation into Donald Trump's alleged "hush money" payments to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who allegedly had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006.

The Times reports that the DA's office began presenting evidence to the grand jury on Monday, and that David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, was seen entering the grand jury building that morning.

The company that publishes the Enquirer admitted in late 2018 that it helped broker "catch and kill" deals with Daniels and other women, in which it paid the women hush money for their stories, effectively silencing them ahead of the 2016 election.

In a 2018 statement, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York said the publisher "admitted that it made the $150,000 payment in concert with a candidate's presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate" and that "its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman's story so as to prevent it from influencing the election."

News of Trump's alleged affair with Daniels surfaced in 2018, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to the ex adult-film star a month before the 2016 election so she'd keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter they'd had years earlier.

While Trump and his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen initially denied the claims of an affair, Cohen later admitted that there was a payment made to the porn star.

Calling it "a private transaction," Cohen told The New York Times that he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in 2016. He said Trump had not reimbursed him.

Trump has since admitted he authorized the $130,000 payment, but has continued to deny the underlying claims that the two had an affair or that the payment was in any way connected to his campaign.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to tax evasion and campaign finance crimes in connection with the payment to Daniels (née Stephanie Clifford) and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was also disbarred.

Daniels, meanwhile, lost a defamation lawsuit against Trump after he denied her claims.

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According to the Times, Manhattan prosecutors are entering a new phase in their investigation and have begun contacting officials from the former president's 2016 campaign, and have "subpoenaed phone records and other documents that might shed light on the episode."

The grand jury signal that charges could be coming for the former president though, as the Times notes, the case would hinge on showing that Trump and his company falsified records to hide the payout to Daniels.

Trump, who is currently running for president again after losing reelection in 2020, is mired in several investigations and lawsuits including into his handling of classified documents and his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

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Trump Closer to Criminal Charges in Probe of Hush Money Payments - PEOPLE
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