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New York (Trends Wide) — The Manhattan grand jury in charge of the alleged hush payment case involving former President Donald Trump is scheduled to go into recess starting April 5 and resume activities weeks later that month, according to a source familiar with the matter.
If the grand jury does not re-evaluate the case for several weeks, it will halt what had been a wave of anticipation that a former US president could be indicted for the first time in the country’s history. Trump himself incorrectly anticipated that he would be arrested last week amid reports of security preparations being made in the event of an impeachment.
The news comes after a new Quinnipiac University poll revealed that 55% of Americans consider the allegations against Trump to be at least somewhat serious.
The planned suspension for upcoming religious holidays and spring break from the city’s public schools was something the grand jury had scheduled, which was summoned to serve for six months.
The grand jury is also not expected to hear the case of Trump’s alleged hush payment this Thursday or next week, when other cases are on its agenda, the source said.
Grand jury proceedings are secret and prosecutors can change plans for the panel at any time.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump appeared to be nearing completion earlier this month after the former president was invited to testify before a grand jury.
Since then, two other witnesses have testified, including attorney Robert Costello, who appeared on Trump’s behalf. On Monday, the grand jury heard testimony from David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer who played a key role in paying the hush money.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump over the repayment of a hush money payment that then-Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the election in 2016 to buy his silence about an alleged affair a decade earlier. Trump has denied the relationship.
The New York case is one of several investigations that could pose legal problems for Trump. In Washington, special counsel Jack Smith is investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and the handling of classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago complex. And in Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating efforts to quash the state’s 2020 election.
A spokeswoman for Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Majority of Americans Call Accusations Against Trump Serious
The majority of Americans consider the allegations against Trump to be at least somewhat serious (55%), according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, including 32% who rate them very serious.
The majority also believe that the case against him is largely motivated by politics (62%) and not by law.
Only 29% of those surveyed believe that Trump is honest, while 64% think that he is not.
A majority, 57%, say that if criminal charges are brought against Trump in one of the investigations he faces, that should disqualify him for another presidential nomination, while 38% say criminal charges should not disqualify him.
Republicans, according to the poll, overwhelmingly support Trump when it comes to his legal risk.
Three-quarters (75%) of Republicans say criminal charges should not disqualify Trump from a presidential bid, and 76% say the charges Trump faces in the alleged hush money case do not. are too severe or not severe at all. Likewise, 73% of Republicans say that Trump’s impact on the Republican Party in general has been positive, rather than negative.
