NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Manhattan prosecutors investigating Donald Trump have convened a new grand jury to hear evidence in a years-old probe into payments made to keep the porn star Stormy Daniels quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president, according to multiple news reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The news outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported that witnesses started testifying before the grand jury on Monday, signaling an escalation in what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has alluded to as \u201cthe next chapter\u201d in his office\u2019s Trump investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesperson for Bragg\u2019s office declined comment. In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Bragg as the \u201cRadical Left Manhattan D.A.\u201d and said the new grand jury was \u201ca continuation of the Greatest Witch Hunt of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grand juries have been convened before in New York to explore the possibility of criminal charges against Trump, but to date none have issued an indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Manhattan grand jury would be the latest legal threat to Trump as he ramps up his presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A special grand jury in Atlanta has investigated whether Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. Last month, the House Jan. 6 committee voted to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department for Trump\u2019s role in sparking the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The FBI is also investigating Trump\u2019s storage of classified documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hush-money investigation in New York involves payments of $130,000 to Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence in the run-up to Trump\u2019s 2016 election victory. Trump has denied having affairs with either woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, made the payment to Daniels through his own company and said he then was reimbursed by Trump. McDougal\u2019s payment was made through the publisher of the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer, which then squelched her story<\/a> in a journalistically dubious practice known as \u201ccatch-and-kill\u201d to help Trump become president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n