Three sources familiar with the situation confirmed that a grand jury was convened in New York by the Prosecutors in their investigation into hush money paid to an adult film star who said she had slept with Donald Trump.
Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney, met with prosecutors in recent weeks and could be asked to appear before the grand jury.
Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in 2018 to making payments to Daniels for the sole purpose of influencing the 2016 presidential election and said he did so at Trump's behest.
Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison for that and other crimes, maintained in an interview with MSNBC that the payment was made for the benefit of Donald J. Trump. An attorney for Trump wouldn't make a statement Monday night.
Trump has denied ever having slept with Daniels, but he acknowledged that he repaid Cohen the $130,000.
In 2018, Trump tweeted that the money was not from the campaign and that the deal was a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair despite having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair, Trump said on Twitter.
Trump's company was sentenced this month on tax fraud charges brought by the district attorney's office. Bragg said at the time that the sentencing closes this important chapter of our ongoing investigation into the former president and his businesses, and that we now move on to the next chapter.