The $130,000 payment made by Trump to Daniels through his former attorney Cohen in the closing weeks of the 2016 election is the subject of the inquiry.
Trump eventually paid Cohen back with $35,000 cheques made out of his personal finances, and Cohen admitted guilt to federal charges related to the hush money in 2018.
As he huddled this weekend to plan his legal and political responses, Donald Trump was preparing for his most legally precarious week since leaving the White House.
An ominous echo of his tweets encouraging demonstrations in the run-up to the January 6 US Capitol attack, the former US president announced on his Truth Social platform that he anticipated to be "ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK" and urged his fans to participate in protests.
According to people close to Trump, when he read media reports that the district attorney's office had contacted the US Secret Service regarding protection in the case of an indictment, he simply made a bet about when Alvin Bragg may file charges.
It is now anticipated that one more witness would testify before the grand jury in New York hearing evidence in the revived 2016 hush money case on Monday,
Michael Cohen's former attorney Costello originally served as Cohen's legal counsel, but the two have since split. Cohen's testimony will probably be weakened by Costello's evidence.
The Republican base may view the long-running case as a true "witch-hunt," as Trump has claimed, which is why he and his allies have suggested recently that an indictment in the hush money case could help him politically.
Every day last week, Trump talked about the hush money issue, and according to his aides, they have gone over numerous scenarios in the event of an indictment,
such as whether he would first go to New York for an arraignment or make a remote appearance from his Mar-a-Lago club.