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Surprise Witness Coming In Manhattan Trump Case On Monday

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


While reports on Friday suggested that former President Donald Trump was facing a certain indictment early this week, a report on Sunday injected some new intrigue into the story.

According to Business Insider, there is one more “surprise” witness the grand jury in Manhattan will hear from on Monday before formally deciding whether or not to charge Trump in connection with a hush money payment of $130,000 he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, which prosecutors allege was a violation of campaign finance laws.

“There is one more witness,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told the outlet.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share information about the grand jury proceedings, declined to identify the witness whose testimony will conclude the two-month grand jury presentation by prosecutors under the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg.

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Insider reported that a separate anonymous source has confirmed that the witness in question is not Allen Weisselberg, a former CFO who is serving a five-month sentence for a payroll tax-dodge scheme at the Trump Organization.

News of the Monday grand jury testimony by the witness was first reported by CNN.

Michael Cohen, a former attorney for Trump who testified before the grand jury in the investigation last week, admitted guilt in 2018 to various offenses, including violating campaign finance laws by paying $130,000 to Daniels. Cohen, who was incarcerated for over a year, claims that he made the payment at Trump’s behest, The Hill noted.

Daniels, meanwhile, met with Manhattan prosecutors who are leading the probe on Wednesday, the outlet continued.

Trump acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment but insisted that it was not associated with his campaign funds. The Trump Organization classified the payment reimbursing Cohen as a legitimate expenditure. Others have noted as well that Trump self-funded his first campaign.

Trump last week declined an invitation to appear before the grand jury, which experts say was another sign of an impending indictment.

In response to the news about a potential indictment, a spokesperson for Trump, Steven Cheung, issued a statement to Fox News Digital criticizing Bragg, calling his investigation a “witch hunt” and alleging that Bragg was under the influence of President Biden and “radical Democrats.”

“President Donald J. Trump is completely innocent, he did nothing wrong, and even the biggest, most Radical Left Democrats are making that clear,” Cheung said. “From Russia, Russia, Russia, to the Mueller Hoax, to Impeachment Hoaxes 1 and 2, and even the Unlawful Mar-a-Lago Raid, Democrats have investigated and attacked President Trump since before he was elected – and they’ve failed every time.

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“Now Democrats are at it again, pushing the ‘Nuclear Button’ and attacking a President because of a disgraced extortionist,” he added. “This is happening because President Trump is leading in the polls by a large margin against both Democrats and Republicans, and there’s never been anything so blatant in American political history.”

Cheung continued: “Everyone knows it’s a sham. In fact, the Department of Justice stocked the DA’s office with top people from DC to help ‘Get Trump’ at a local level. Americans will not tolerate Radical Left Democrats turning our justice system into an injustice system to influence a presidential election, which is all they want to do. Our Country is not going to let this happen. This will backfire massively for the Democrat Party, and end in disgrace for our Nation.”

Reports on Saturday said that Bragg has been in talks with several law enforcement agencies ahead of an expected indictment and appearance in court by Trump.

“The agencies preparing are the NYPD, New York State Court Officers, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office,” the Western Journal reported, citing NBC News.

Sources familiar with the matter are stating that preparations are underway for Trump’s initial appearance at the Manhattan Criminal Court, the report continued.

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