Former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway meets prosecutors as inquiry escalates

NEW YORK – Ms Kellyanne Conway, who managed the final months of Mr Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, met prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday, the latest sign that the office is ramping up its criminal investigation into the former president.

The prosecutors are scrutinising Mr Trump’s role in

a hush money payment to a porn star, Ms Stormy Daniels,

who has said she had an affair with him.

The US$130,000 (S$174,000) payment was made by Mr Trump’s long-time fixer, Mr Michael Cohen, in the closing days of the 2016 campaign, and Mr Trump ultimately reimbursed him.

Mr Cohen has said that Ms Conway played a small yet notable role in the payment: She was the person Mr Cohen alerted after making the payment, he wrote in his 2020 memoir.

“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,” he wrote.

Instead, he wrote, Ms Conway “called and said she’d pass along the good news”.

Ms Conway, who was seen walking into the district attorney’s office shortly before 2 pm on Wednesday, is the latest in a string of witnesses to meet prosecutors in the last month or so.

Since District Attorney Alvin Bragg impanelled a grand jury in January to hear evidence about Mr Trump’s role in paying the hush money, at least five witnesses have testified: Mr Jeffrey McConney and Ms Deborah Tarasoff, employees of Mr Trump’s company; Mr David Pecker and Mr Dylan Howard, two former leaders of The National Enquirer, which helped arrange the hush money deal; and Mr Keith Davidson, a former lawyer for Ms Daniels.

The decision to question those central players in the hush money saga before the grand jury suggests that Mr Bragg is nearing a decision on whether to seek an indictment of the former president.

A spokesman for the office and a lawyer for Ms Conway declined to comment.

It is unclear whether Ms Conway appeared before the grand jury or was only interviewed by prosecutors.

Still, the investigation is not complete.

Mr Cohen has met prosecutors for several hours of questioning, though he has yet to testify in front of the grand jury.

Ms Daniels has yet to be interviewed, and Ms Conway might not be the last 2016 campaign official to face questioning.

It is one of three potential criminal cases looming over Mr Trump, even as he remains a front runner in the 2024 presidential campaign.

In addition to Mr Bragg’s inquiry, Mr Trump could face charges from a local prosecutor in Georgia investigating whether he interfered in the 2020 election.

And at the federal level, a special counsel is scrutinising Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election – including whether he committed any crimes in connection with the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol – as well as his handling of classified documents.

Mr Trump has denied all wrongdoing and accused the investigators of carrying out a politically motivated witch hunt.

He has also denied having an affair with Ms Daniels.

In Manhattan, any case would likely centre on whether Mr Trump was involved with the falsification of business records related to the payment to Ms Daniels.

When Mr Trump repaid Mr Cohen for the US$130,000 payout to Ms Daniels, the Trump Organisation falsely recorded the reimbursements as legal expenses.

It can be a crime in New York to falsify business records.

But to make it a felony, Mr Bragg’s prosecutors would have to show that Mr Trump was involved in the falsification of the records to help commit or conceal a second crime – in this case, likely a violation of New York state election law, a legal theory that has not been tested.

The case would rely on testimony from Mr Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges over the payments in 2018.

Mr Cohen is expected to meet prosecutors again in the coming days.

If Mr Trump were ultimately convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of four years, though prison time would not be mandatory, and a conviction is hardly assured.

Mr Trump’s lawyers would likely seek to undermine Mr Cohen’s testimony, arguing that he is a convicted criminal and admitted liar who has an axe to grind against Mr Trump.

Ms Conway remained one of Mr Trump’s top aides when he ascended to the White House, staying on until the summer of 2020.

She still speaks with Mr Trump and is close to his wife, Melania.

But her husband, Mr George Conway, is a vocal antagonist of the former president, and Ms Conway has been equivocal about his chances at regaining the White House.

In January, she considered his prospects in an opinion piece, writing that the case against his candidacy rested in part on concerns that he “cannot outrun the mountain of legal woes”. NYTIMES