Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York significant person Alvin Bragg
Manhattan grand jury investigation
In January 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported on Cohen's payment to Daniels. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts relating to the payment—as well as a payment made to McDougal—in August. In his admission of guilt, Cohen implicated Trump, stating that he acted "at the direction of a candidate for federal office". In December 2018, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison.Following Cohen's admission of guilt, Cyrus Vance Jr.—the Manhattan District Attorney—opened an investigation against the Trump Organization and two of its executives. The office paused its inquiry when federal prosecutors of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) began a separate investigation into the payments; Vance said after Trump's indictment that SDNY had asked him to "stand down" and he complied. In July 2019, SDNY prosecutors stated that they concluded their inquiry into Trump and signaled that he would not be charged, though a Justice Department policy prohibits the indictment of a sitting president. The Manhattan district attorney's office then issued a subpoena for the Trump Organization in August, seeking documents relating to the payments. Additionally, the office subpoenaed accounting firm Mazars USA, demanding eight years of Trump's corporate tax returns. Trump's lawyers sued Vance to block the subpoena, citing Trump's immunity from criminal inquiries as the president of the United States; in Trump v. Vance, the Supreme Court ruled 7–2 in favor of Vance, allowing the subpoena to continue.In December 2020, Manhattan prosecutors began intensifying their investigation, investigating employees of Deutsche Bank and insurance brokerage Aon. The Supreme Court ruled once more in February 2021 that the Manhattan district attorney's office could obtain Trump's tax records, and obtained these records following the Supreme Court's ruling. The Manhattan district attorney's office began focusing its attention on Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer (CFO) of the Trump Organization, and charged the Trump Organization with running a tax scheme in July. Following the 2021 New York County District Attorney election, Alvin Bragg succeeded Vance as the Manhattan District Attorney. In February 2022, Mark F. Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, the two prosecutors retained by Bragg to lead the investigation, resigned, asserting Bragg was not pursuing charges against Trump aggressively enough. Bragg continued the investigation throughout 2022, and moved to continue the hush money inquiry into Trump.In January 2023, the Manhattan district attorney's office impaneled a 23-person grand jury, and began presenting evidence of Trump's role in paying Stormy Daniels. The grand jury had been hearing evidence for two months leading up to the indictment, typically meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays. In March 2023, prosecutors signaled an indictment was likely, and on March 18, Trump claimed that he was to be arrested the following week, calling for protests in anticipation of a possible indictment. New York City Police began to increase security in preparation for the expected indictment on March 21, and a second time for the second expected indictment on March 30. Metal barriers were set up around Trump Tower and the district Criminal Court Building. A law enforcement source told Reuters that police would close streets around the courthouse in advance of Trump's expected appearance on April 4. On March 30, prior to the grand jury voting to indict, an unidentified witness testified for approximately 30 minutes to them.