Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney's office recently met with Kellyanne Conway, who served as campaign manager and White House adviser to former President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors met with Conway on Wednesday in their probe of Trump's role in a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign in the latest sign the office is "ramping up" its criminal investigation, according to The New York Times.
Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations related to the payment, said he was reimbursed by the former president. Cohen also named Conway as the person he alerted after making the payment in the final days of the 2016 campaign.
"I called Trump to confirm that the transaction was completed, and the documentation all in place, but he didn't take my call — obviously a very bad sign, in hindsight," Cohen wrote in his 2020 book. Instead, Conway "called and said she'd pass along the good news," he added.
Conway is the latest in the parade of witnesses to meet with prosecutors in recent weeks after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg impaneled a new grand jury in January to hear evidence related to the hush money payment. Other witnesses who have testified include Trump Organization officials Jeffrey McConney and Deborah Tarasoff as well as David Pecker and Dylan Howard — two former leaders of the National Enquirer, which helped arrange the hush money deal. Daniels' former attorney Keith Davidson has also testified, according to the report.
The questioning of the "central players" in the matter suggests that Bragg is "nearing a decision" on whether to seek an indictment against Trump, according to the Times. But the report added that neither Cohen nor Daniels have testified before the grand jury and Conway may not be the last 2016 campaign official to face questioning.
Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels and rejected any allegations of wrongdoing, accusing prosecutors of a politically-motivated witch hunt.
Prosecutors are looking at whether Trump played a role in falsifying business records related to the hush money payment, which the Trump Organization falsely reported as legal expenses to Cohen. In order to charge Trump with a felony, Bragg would have to show that Trump was involved in the matter to commit or conceal a second crime – in this case a violation of state election laws, a legal theory that has not been tested, according to the report. Trump could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
The case would also rely on testimony from Cohen, who pleaded guilty to an array of federal crimes in 2018 – which Trump's lawyers would likely try to use to undermine Cohen's testimony.
Conway, who continued to speak with Trump and remains friends with former first lady Melania Trump, according to the Times, has continued to defend the former president in the media but has been willing to publicly acknowledge his shortcomings. Conway in a New York Times op-ed in January warned that Trump's 2024 presidential bid may not be able to "outrun the mountain of legal woes" he faces.
Conway, who left the White House in 2020, previously testified to the House Jan. 6 committee that she tried to get through to Trump during the Capitol riot and even tried reaching out to Melania Trump because Trump "reserves fear" for her.
Conway in her testimony called Jan. 6 a "terrible day" and in a media interview expressed disappointment that Trump did not act sooner to call off the mob of "marauders and murderers." Transcripts from her Jan. 6 committee interview also show that she dismissed Trump's plan to litigate his election loss.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin said Conway's Jan. 6 testimony suggests "she's been calling it like she sees it."
"That makes me think that as a witness, she won't apologize for believing in Trump's agenda or even in him," Rubin tweeted. "Don't expect any 180 in her political philosophy. But I also don't think she'll lie or shill for him--and you'd better believe she has a skilled lawyer not paid by Trump."
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on former special counsel Bob Mueller's team, called the report that prosecutors interviewed Conway an "interesting development."
"Evidence could tie the payments to election concerns vs solely a concern about personal blowback from Melania," he wrote on Twitter. "And she can corroborate - or not - Cohen's account that he spoke to Conway about the payments and she purported to pass on Cohen's info to Trump."
Along with the Manhattan DA probe, Trump could also face legal jeopardy in Georgia's Fulton County, where a special grand jury investigating his efforts to overturn his election loss in the state recently recommended about a dozen indictments, according to the grand jury forewoman. DA Fani Willis will decide whether to present the evidence to a regular grand jury, which could make charging decisions.
"Make no mistake: Charges against Trump are coming from the Manhattan DA for 2016 election wrongdoing to complement those from the Atlanta DA for 2020 election wrongdoing," predicted Norm Eisen, an attorney who served as the Democratic co-counsel during Trump's first impeachment. "And soon!"
