Fans and detractors of former President Donald Trump alike are in a holding pattern — again.
A report Thursday from The Wall Street Journal paints a picture of chaos and last-minute shuffling within the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York as DA Alvin Bragg prepares to indict the former president for allegedly falsifying business records connected to the supposed “hush” money payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016.
The allegations, which have largely been shredded online as a gross overstep of federal overreach, claim Trump tried to keep an affair with Daniels secret in the lead-up to his 2016 presidential nomination and victory.
The former president has long denied that any hush money was ever paid. In fact, he has insisted no affair happened.
At first glance, it would be fair to surmise that Trump’s strong denials could portend a lack of evidence or other problems with the prosecution (thus delaying proceedings for the second time this week), but the Journal reported that everything is proceeding as planned.
The grand jurors who will eventually hear the Trump case did convene on Thursday, it said — but to discuss “another matter unrelated” to Trump.
“It is common for grand juries in New York to hear multiple cases at a time,” the Journal’s Corinne Ramey wrote. “Grand jury schedules can be unpredictable because panels juggle cases with competing demands and deadlines, former prosecutors said.”
This latest delay follows a slightly different issue Wednesday in the Trump case.
The grand jury meeting that was slated for that day was ultimately canceled at the behest of Bragg.
According to the New York Post, Bragg canceled the Wednesday meeting because a key witness was unavailable.
The report said Bragg believes the witness’ testimony will be key to countering key Trump arguments.
Members of the grand jury were told to go home and wait on standby for a possible Thursday meeting, obviously raising hopes of a final decision being made by the weekend.
Now, according to the Journal, it appears the earliest the grand jury will convene to discuss Trump will be after the weekend.
The report said grand juries typically do not meet on Fridays.
The former president caused quite a stir last weekend when he announced on Truth Social that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday.
Since that stunning announcement, Trump has remained quite busy.
Not only was the former president (with a looming potential indictment in his immediate future) spotted at the NCAA wrestling tournament over the weekend, but he also called on his supporters to both protests and pray for the future of this country.