The New York City grand jury examining Donald Trump’s alleged role in a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels isn’t expected to hear evidence for the next month largely because of a previously scheduled hiatus, Politico reports. The break would push any indictment of the former president to late April at the earliest. District Attorney Alvin Bragg could ask the grand jury to reconvene if prosecutors want the panel to meet during previously planned breaks. The break was scheduled when the grand jury was first convened in January. There is no deadline for bringing an indictment against Trump, although there were indications in recent weeks that the grand jury was nearing a vote, particularly when prosecutors offered Trump the chance to testify before the panel. Trump declined the invitation.
Trump predicted on social media that he would be arrested, citing news reports, and encouraged his supporters to protest any criminal charges against him. Prosecutors are examining Trump’s alleged role in a $130,000 payment to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with the former president. He has denied the affair and any wrongdoing. Prosecutors could construct a case around a charge of falsifying business records, which could take as little as one day to present to a grand jury or as long as a year and a half, said Karen Friedman Agnifilo, chief assistant district attorney under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance. “There’s truly no way to predict,” she said.