As the prospect of an indictment grows, the Manhattan district attorney’s office invited Donald Trump to testify this week before a grand jury. Not surprisingly, the former president and his attorneys have declined the offer. NBC News reported:
Former president Donald Trump will not appear before the Manhattan grand jury probing a hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told NBC News on Monday. Trump’s legal team met with the former president in Florida over the weekend. Following the discussions, the president decided not to sit for a meeting with the grand jury in New York.
This does not mean, however, that Team Trump is choosing total silence as prosecutors in local New York weigh whether to charge the Republican. On the contrary, the former president and his defense lawyers have added a provocative new word to their talking points.
On Thursday night, after The New York Times reported that prosecutors were “nearing an indictment of the former president,” the Republican’s spokesperson issued a statement that said, among other things, “President Trump was the victim of extortion then, just as he is now.” Around the same time, Trump published a seven-part series of missives on his social media platform, pushing a similar line.
“I did absolutely nothing wrong, I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I have wanted to have an affair with Stormy Daniels,” he wrote, adding, “I relied on counsel in order to resolve this Extortion of me.”
Much of this was familiar. In fact, in recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly emphasized that he did not actually have an extramarital affair with the porn star. The question of whether those denials are credible is of possible interest, but what strikes me as more important is why he has pushed the denials with such vigor.
Common sense might suggest that Trump is denying the relationship because he’s still married to his…
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