Manhattan’s DA To Reopen Investigation On Trump Hush Money Payment To Stormy Daniels

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is moving to reopen an investigation over a hush money payment by former President Donald Trump to the porn actress Stormy Daniels.

This will be the fourth ongoing criminal probe against Trump amid his recently announced new bid for the White House in 2024.

The former president is also being investigated for alleged election interference in Georgia and is under the scrutiny of the Justice Department for his role in the events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his handling of classified files that should have been turned over to the National Archives after the end of his presidency.

The Manhattan DA’s office has previously examined the hush money scandal years ago, but the new district attorney, Alvin Bragg, declined to press charges against Trump, rather focusing on his broader business practices.

Now, Bragg is renewing efforts to pursue criminal charges against the former president. The new strategy involves pressuring a top Trump lieutenant, Allen Weisselberg, to cooperate.

Weisselberg has recently pleaded guilty to unrelated tax charges and testified against Trump’s company but has not specifically implicated Trump in the allegations.

Prosecutors are now planning to consider charges against the executive, who has direct knowledge of the hush money case, to pressure him to talk.

Trump has denied all wrongdoing and said he never had an affair with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Michael van der Veen, a lawyer for Trump’s company, said: “I really don’t believe that they’re going back and conducting these investigations, and if there’s any truth to it, it would show poor judgment. The millions of taxpayer dollars they’ve spent on countless investigations, it’s a big waste of time and money.”