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UPDATE (Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 5:54 p.m. ET): The New York grand jury weighing whether to indict former President Donald Trump will reconvene on Thursday after their Wednesday meeting was canceled by the Manhattan district attorney, reported NBC News, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
We got some unexpected news in the Donald Trump grand jury investigation in New York. We were all set for a potential indictment Wednesday, but then suddenly heard that the grand jury not only wasn’t going to be voting but wouldn’t be meeting at all.
It’s unclear why the apparent delay occurred or what comes next. It follows Monday's testimony of Robert Costello, a Trump-aligned witness who sought to discredit key prosecution witness Michael Cohen. Cohen was prepared to testify in rebuttal to Costello but wasn't recalled, leading observers to believe that Wednesday could have been the day for the grand jury to vote.
So what happened? We don’t know yet. It could be a simple administrative or scheduling issue that’s far from intriguing. But if it’s connected to the substance of the investigation, then one possibility is that Manhattan prosecutors want to call a witness besides Cohen who either wasn’t available or prepared to testify Wednesday.
And it doesn’t seem that this grand jury is running out of time, at least in terms of its service. The New York Times reported in late January that the grand jury had then started recently and sits for six months. So if that’s the case, then Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg isn’t running up against a clock — at least not in that respect. Of course, there’s the bigger ticking clock ahead of the 2024 election hanging over all the Trump probes, which also include investigations in Georgia and by the Department of Justice.
But for now, we’re in a holding pattern yet again. I’d caution against reading too much into the day’s events — or non-events, to be precise — one way or the other. But along with everyone else, I’ll be eagerly awaiting Bragg’s next steps.