The NYPD officers mobilized to quell any unrest in New York City upon news of a possible indictment against former President Donald Trump can probably rest easy: the grand jury isn’t meeting today and possibly tomorrow. No reason was offered, but the panel that’s to decide whether Trump broke the law regarding his hush money payment scheme to former porn star Stormy Daniels isn’t going to issue any indictment this week (via Politico):
'The DA’s office didn’t tell the court why the day off, [they] just said, ‘I don’t want them today, maybe tomorrow" - senior law-enforcement official.
— Julia Marsh (@juliakmarsh) March 22, 2023
The Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence in the criminal investigation of Donald Trump’s alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money to a porn star won’t meet Wednesday as regularly scheduled, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The reason for the adjournment wasn’t immediately clear. The grand jury typically meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, one of the people familiar with the matter said, and it heard from witnesses earlier this week.
“The grand jury has been told to stay home today. They’re on standby for tomorrow,” one senior law-enforcement official said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been facing immense pressure since Trump declared on his platform, Truth Social, that he would be arrested this week. There’s no evidence that an arrest warrant has been issued; there’s no indictment yet. Trump’s team even acknowledged that they were unaware of any development. Still, it brought the former president back into the news cycle with attacks against Bragg, who Republicans, especially Trump supporters, are accusing of playing politics with the justice system. That criticism is not unfounded, as the charges against Trump are reportedly not felony-level, but Bragg’s office is allegedly trying to finagle ways to make that case. The statute of limitations has also expired on the charges purportedly being considered, so this is another witch hunt.
Bragg’s office also could decline to charge Trump, too. That’s another real possibility. This week has been fraught with reports and sources claiming that an arrest is a real possibility, with the backdrop of mass law enforcement mobilization offering some credibility to those developments.