NY grand jury not expected to consider Trump case Thursday, source says

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Trump grand jury reconvenes ahead of possible indictment

Fox News' Bryan Llenas provides details on the attempts to prosecute former President Donald Trump as Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg faces increasing political pressure to drop the case.

A Manhattan grand jury will not hear testimony, deliberate or vote on the hush-money case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday, a source has confirmed to Fox News.

Since the grand jury does not sit on Fridays, a vote on the Trump case is not expected this week, according to the source.

The grand jury will meet Thursday about a different case, the source said. This grand jury has been considering other cases and is also a special "investigative" grand jury.

TRUMP HUSH-MONEY GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS 'CANCELED' FOR WEDNESDAY, SOURCES SAY

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating whether Trump violated the law by making alleged hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. 

The grand jury was also expected to meet Wednesday to hear from at least one additional witness in the case, but proceedings were canceled. 

A police officer stands in front of Trump Tower in New York City on Wednesday. A New York grand jury will not hear the hush-money case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday, a source tells Fox News. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Two sources familiar told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the grand jury was canceled amid "major dissension" within the district attorney's office. One source claimed the district attorney is having trouble convincing the grand jury on potential charges due to the "weakness" of the case.

Despite rumors of a potential imminent indictment, sources familiar told Fox News Digital that Trump has not been formally notified about whether Bragg actually plans to bring charges against him. 

FLASHBACK: MANHATTAN DA BRAGG SUSPENDED TRUMP INVESTIGATION 'INDEFINITELY,' STOPPED PURSUING CHARGES

Sources told Fox News, though, that there remains a real chance that Bragg does not choose to indict the former president.

Bragg, when he took over as district attorney in January 2022, stopped pursuing charges against Trump and suspended the investigation "indefinitely," according to one of the top prosecutors who resigned from the office in protest. 

Prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who had been leading the investigation under former DA Cyrus Vance, submitted their resignations after Bragg began raising doubts about pursuing a case against Trump.

Former President Donald J. Trump, left, is facing an indictment from New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Shane Bevel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images/Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The possible charges stem from the $130,000 hush-money payment that then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.

Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019, even as Cohen implicated him as part of his plea deal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

FLASHBACK: TRUMP SAYS HE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT $130K PAYMENT FROM MICHAEL COHEN TO STORMY DANIELS

Cohen has said Trump directed the payments. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 through his own company and was later reimbursed by Trump's company, which logged the payments as "legal expenses." Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who allegedly had a relationship with Trump, received a $150,000 payment through the publisher of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer.

The Trump Organization "grossed up" Cohen’s reimbursement for Daniels' payment for "tax purposes," according to federal prosecutors who filed the 2018 criminal charges against Cohen for the payments.

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels. (AP)

Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing with regard to the payments made to Daniels, and he has repeatedly said the payments were "not a campaign violation" but rather a "simple private transaction."

Robert Costello, a former legal adviser to Cohen, appeared before the grand jury Monday and testified that Cohen is a "serial liar."

Michael Cohen, former attorney to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building before beginning his prison term in New York on May 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen, File)

Costello testified before the grand jury for more than two hours on Monday. Costello said he testified that Trump did not know about the payments made by Cohen to Daniels.

The Manhattan DA’s investigation into Trump began in 2019 by then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance. The probe was focused on possible bank, insurance and tax fraud. The case initially involved financial dealings of Trump’s Manhattan properties, including his flagship Fifth Avenue building, Trump Tower, and the valuation of his 213-acre estate Seven Springs in Westchester.

The investigation last year led to tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and its finance chief, Allen Weisselberg.

Grand jury deliberations and votes are secret proceedings, and an indictment typically remains under seal until an arraignment.

This is a developing story and will be updated.