The Manhattan grand jury that’s been hearing evidence against former President Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels “hush money” case plans to recess for the next month, The Post has learned.
The break, which will cover the city school system’s weeklong Spring Recess in April, was pre-planned, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Court sources cautioned the schedule was subject to change, but said the break would last at least through the Passover and Easter holidays.
The move pushes back any potential indictment of Trump, 76, in connection with the $130,000 that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
On March 18, Trump said on social media that he expected to be arrested three days later and urged his followers to protest and “TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
The arrest never took place but Trump’s announcement led to a surge in donations to his 2024 Republican presidential primary campaign and a major bump in the polls. He now leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an undeclared rival, by an average of 15.1 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics website.
The former president also sparked controversy on Friday with a since-deleted social media post that threatened “death and destruction” if he were charged — and featured images that showed him aiming a baseball bat at the head of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump defense lawyer Joe Tacopina later called it “an ill-advised post that one of his social-media people put up and he quickly took down when he realized the rhetoric and the photo that was attached to it.”
The grand jury most recently heard testimony Monday from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, a longtime Trump pal, who met with Cohen in August 2015 and offered to help suppress stories about Trump’s alleged extramarital affairs.
Trump has denied cheating on wife Melania Trump with Daniels and has also denied any wrongdoing tied to the money she received.
Pecker — who was among the first witnesses to testify in late January — was recalled after sources said Bragg wanted to rebut the March 20 testimony of lawyer and Trump ally Robert Costello, who appeared on behalf of the ex-president.
Costello claimed afterward that he “really stirred up those grand jurors” and sources told The Post that his testimony left Bragg concerned, which the DA’s office denied.
Bragg is reportedly considering charges against Trump that include falsifying business records to conceal a violation of federal campaign finance rules.
The untested legal theory would make the offense a felony punishable by up to four years in state prison.
The grand jury is scheduled to meet on Thursday but it won’t consider the Trump case, sources have said.
Additional reporting by Ben Feuerherd
