A grand jury in Manhattan will hear more evidence in the Trump hush-money investigation Monday.
A final witness must testify before the panel can deliberate and then vote on a possible charge.
Monday is now the earliest day Trump could be indicted, although the indictment would be sealed immediately.
A possible “hush-money” charge against Donald Trump is being stayed until a final witness testifies before a grand jury in Manhattan on Monday afternoon.
“There is another witness,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told Insider Saturday night.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity as she was not authorized to reveal details of the grand jury’s proceedings.
The source declined to identify the witness whose testimony will conclude a two-month grand jury presentation by prosecutors under District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
A separate source, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Insider that the witness is not Allen Weisselberg, Trump’s former CFO, who is serving a five-month sentence for admittedly developing a payroll tax evasion scheme at the Trump Organization .
The message from a grand jury witness Monday was first reported by CNN.
Former Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen — the prosecution’s star witness for his admitted role in wiring the illegal $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election — has told reporters he’s expecting , when to be the last grand jury witness he testified last Monday and Wednesday.
The surprising final witness provides an updated lead on the timing of a possible indictment against Trump and any co-defendants.
The grand jury, which meets secretly in a lower Manhattan office building, meets only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during three-hour afternoon sessions to hear testimonies.
Its members – between 16 and 23 in number – could possibly get a vote by the end of Monday’s three-hour session.
But that would be unlikely. Experts who have described the Manhattan grand jury process to insiders say there are several steps between final testimony and the vote.
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Once testimony is complete, prosecutors will “indict” the jury, which means they will go through the possible counts on an indictment one by one and explain each count in the possible indictment.
Sources have told insiders they believe the highest number is first-degree business document forgery, a low-level crime that would allege that Trump and all the other co-defendants forged documents to cover up another crime, such as such as the omission of the $130,000 campaign balance sheet.
Trump has vehemently denied any wrongdoing or an affair with Daniels, calling the charges “fraud, injustice, mockery and a total and complete arming of law enforcement to affect a presidential election!”
Once the indictment is complete, the prosecutor, court clerk, and stenographer leave the room and the grand jury begins deliberation.
If there were 12 or more votes for impeachment, the foreman would receive the paper indictment for signature, at which point the former president would be officially, albeit secretly, indicted.
That paper indictment would then be taken to a nearby clerk’s office, where it would be sealed and filed. It would be unsealed at Trump’s indictment, although given the high level of public interest, Bragg could ask a judge to unseal it early.
It’s a lot of activity to fit into three hours; If the trial is incomplete, the grand jury could return Wednesday afternoon to continue working.
Trump had “made it true” earlier Saturday that he would be “arrested Tuesday next week” and told his supporters, “Protest, take back our nation!” But that timing, already disputed by his attorney, should have been given the new last witnesses can never work.
The panel has heard from a steady stream of witnesses so far, including Cohen. Former Trump advisers Hope Hicks and Kellyanne Conway also performed.
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