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After many meetings with Manhattan prosecutors, Michael Cohen on Monday testified before the grand jury that’s considering indicting his former boss Donald Trump. It’s the latest sign that charges for Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush money case may be on the way.
Recall the recent reports of former Trump White House aides Kellyanne Conway and Hope Hicks meeting with prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. As I’ve noted, prosecutors were likely testing what Conway and Hicks would say about their conversations with Trump and/or Cohen around the time of Cohen’s 2016 payment to keep Daniels, a porn actress, quiet about her alleged affair with Trump ahead of the election. Now that prosecutors know what those other potential witnesses would say — or should at least have a better idea — they’re at the point where they’re ready to put Cohen, who would be a pivotal witness in any trial that comes, under oath in the grand jury.
And though questions remain about what charges exactly may come from Bragg’s office, it’s become increasingly apparent that they will come. So in addition to what's coming, the question for now is, when? As we've seen in the various Trump probes, it can be dangerous to hazard a guess about that. It was back in late January that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia said decisions from her office were "imminent." But with Cohen's long-awaited testimony, coupled with Trump's declined invitation to testify, Bragg might bring charges sooner than Willis.