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Prosecutors are to present a grand jury with evidence about hush money payments made by Donald Trump, the former US president, to adult film actor and producer Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign, it was reported on Monday.
The surprise move by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney in New York, revives a long-running investigation that appeared to be drifting and raises the threat of criminal charges, adding to Trump’s already daunting legal troubles.
The report from the New York Times newspaper came two days after the ex-president became the first candidate to hit the 2024 election campaign trail, delivering speeches in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Daniels, who was born Stephanie Clifford but professes to prefer her stage name, claims to have had sex with Trump in Nevada in 2006 when he was already married to Melania Trump. He denied the allegation but in 2016 his longtime fixer Michael Cohen made a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels, which Trump reimbursed.
Cohen later pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance violations linked to his role in the hush money payment and alleged that it was made “in coordination with, and at the direction of” Trump.
