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The Manhattan district attorney has convened a grand jury to decide if President Donald Trump should be indicted on criminal charges related to his business dealings, The Washington Post reports.
The panel was convened recently, the publication reports, and will meet three days per week for the next six months to discuss the criminal probe into Mr Trump and other executives within the Trump Organization. They will likely hear other cases besides the one related to the former president during this time.
Manhattan’s current district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr, has been investigating the Trump Organization for the last two years on a number of issues, including hush-money payments, tax filings, and property valuations.
Convening the grand jury was an indication that the criminal investigation has ramped up in recent months, and Mr Vance and his team could have evidence a crime has been committed either by Mr Trump or other business executives.
Prosecutors have not yet announced if they will bring criminal charges, but if they do then the grand jury will hear the evidence and decide whether or not to indict Mr Trump, according to The Washington Post report.
The inquiry into Mr Trump’s business dealings span back to before he was president, and include a look into whether the Trump Organization broke any New York laws in the 2016 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels.
Investigators were also looking into whether the value of the company’s expansive real estate portfolio was manipulated in an effort to defraud banks and insurance companies, according to previous court filings. Compensation to top executives, such as longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg, was also under investigation.
In February, Mr Trump experienced a major blow when the Supreme Court ruled that the Manhattan district attorney’s office could access eight years of his tax returns.
Then it was revealed earlier in May that New York Attorney General Letitia James and her office would be joining the Manhattan district attorney’s office for the criminal investigation into the Trump Organization’s business dealings.
“We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA,” a spokesperson to the attorney general told CNN. “We have no additional comment.”
Mr Trump has not publicly responded to the latest report of the Manhattan district attorney’s office convening a grand jury for the criminal probe. The Independent contacted the Trump Organization for a comment.
But the former president previously released a lengthy statement about the investigation after it was announced that the New York attorney general was teaming up with the district attorney’s office.
“There is nothing more corrupt than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime. But, make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening here,” Mr Trump said.
Previously, Mr Trump has also accused the investigation of being politically motivated and a “witch hunt”.
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