Former US President Donald Trump has reportedly been told by prosecutors that he could face criminal charges for making hush-money payments shortly before the 2016 election to adult-film actor Stormy Daniels who said she had a sexual encounter with him, according to The Guardian. Mr Trump has been invited by the Manhattan district attorney to appear next week before a grand jury investigating the evidence in the case. This is a significant development since the start of the probe and indicates Mr Trump is gravely at risk of becoming the first former US President in American history to be indicted, the outlet further said.
Mr Trump, however, is likely to turn down the offer, four people with the knowledge of the proceedings told the New York Times (NYT).
The latest development will also deal a blow to Mr Trump who has announced that he will contest the 2024 US presidential election.
One of Mr Trump's spokespersons described the attorney's threat as "insane" and was quoted as saying by The Guardian, "For the past five years, the DA's office has been on a witch-hunt, investigating every aspect of President Trump's life, and they've come up empty at every turn - and now this."
The $130,000 hush money was paid by the team of Mr Trump, including his long-time aide Michael Cohen, who later pleaded guilty and claimed it was done "in coordination with, and at the direction of" Trump.
NYT said in its report that six people have so far testified before the court and Cohen too is expected to do so. However, even if he is indicted, sending Mr Trump to jail would be challenging as the charges against him are lo-level, the paper further noted.
Mr Trump's aides in recent months have told the former President that he has a stronger case if he argues the payments had nothing to do with the 2016 elections. They instead advised Mr Trump to argue that the payments were entirely about preventing conflict with his wife, Melania.
