Grand jury convened to hear evidence in Donald Trump criminal probe

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has convened a grand jury in his wide-ranging investigation into former President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the probe.

Prosecutors have been investigating Trump, the Trump Organization and its officers since at least 2018. The grand jury signals that they are ready to present evidence and potentially seek indictments.

The panel was convened recently, according to the Post, but it was unclear precisely when. It will meet three days a week over a span of six months.

A spokesperson for Trump did not reply to a request from CNBC for a response to the legal developments.

In New York state, this kind of special grand jury typically hears a number of different cases and is especially useful in complex, long-running matters.

Although much of Vance’s investigation is still opaque, court filings and witnesses have confirmed that prosecutors are investigating several kinds of financial activities that Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in.

One of them is whether the former president and his company falsely inflated the value of their properties for insurance adjusters and then undervalued the properties for tax purposes.

Another area under investigation is how the Trump Organization paid its top executives and whether taxes were paid on various forms of compensation.

Earlier this year, Vance and his team won a court battle over Trump’s tax returns, which they subpoenaed from the firm that prepared them.

The former president has repeatedly and forcefully denied any wrongdoing. He has accused the district attorney’s office of engaging in a politically motivated investigation.

New York state’s attorney general, Letitia James, is also investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity.

The attorney general’s office had initially opened a civil investigation into the Trump Organization. But earlier this month, James’ spokesman announced that the case had evolved into a criminal probe.

For more on the Trump grand jury, read the full story from The Washington Post.

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[bettyvanderhooven-schmaasc]

If we'd have falsified our tax documents, lied on loan papers, not paid contractors or employees, we'd be liable. How is this different? It's not.

[rogereazar]

Boy he must have put a real kink in some agenda, and/or slammed a huuuuge cookie jar shut.

[ronaldrybacki]

They are scared of him they can’t stop, running scared

[zeroxlulu]

Jeez these people are obsessed with Trump more than his supporters 🙄

[Lord_of_the_Pies]

4:52 video of them admitting that they're looking for a crime that they have no evidence ever occurred.

[josiemoe]

I only wish they would investigate other politicians like they have Trump.

[TheSimba]

Absolutely nothing will come of it, just like all the other times they've burnt taxpayer money on a witch hunt.

[charlessanders]

Absolutely trying to keep him from running again. A blind man could see it

[TheIndirectgaming]

Everyone saying “he’s going to prison” sounds like Linwood when he said Pence was gonna be locked up 💀💀💀, it’s a double edge blade and you refuse to see it’s the same god damned

[sheltoniousmaximus]

Is there anyone out there who doesn't know this is all political hits?

[stacydelaney]

"Trump" is the only way they get clicks/views. Trump still living rent-free in their psychotic minds👌🏻🤣

[mowilliam]

Then how about the REAL criminal, like someone in the first family?

[mplaw]

MS (nbc) Ran, it worked for Stalin! What's the penalty, a trip to the basement of Lubyanka ! (Alan won't say but I just did) "I don't want to ever make comparisons to Stalin, but when Lavrentiy Beria, the head of the KGB of the way the American system is supposed to operate, " said Dershowitz. "The American system of justice is supposed to operate neutrally and objectively. You look at the evidence, and the evidence shows that there is a substantial case against somebody, then you indict. But you don't go looking for things to indict against a particular person, and that's what's going on with former President Trump."

[Stabby__]

Sick of this stuff in the news, how many times did they go after him and they never found anything, this political warfare has to stop.

[joecv]

"or someone in his orbit" that tells you everything. you keep throwing, and you keep missing.

[un-trackable]

Let's put a media team on the laptop?

[Mainlandsurf]

Lmao we’ve heard this one before. They’ll find nothing and nothing will be done like the last two “impeachment’s”. This obsession with trump is unhealthy.

[un-trackable]

Not even the current president and he's more top news than the current. I'm worried about the media and what they call a story.

[kurtbarlow]

Endictment is nothing. The House of Representatives already did that to Trump twice, fell through both times.

[SteveinSanFrancisco]

This Kool-Aid taste so sweet what's the flavor... tangerine?