The Manhattan grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump over hush money payments was due to return Monday afternoon to hear more evidence, with still no word on when it might be asked to vote on a possible indictment.
It was the first time the panel was hearing testimony in the Trump probe since last Monday, when a witness favorable to the ex-president appeared before the grand jury.
The investigation into Trump has grown unpopular among half of Democrats, a recent Rassmussen poll has shown.
According to Rassmussen, 46 percent of registered Democrats think an arrest of Trump in Manhattan would be an “outrageous abuse of power.” 49 percent want to see Trump arrested.
Overall, 59 percent of respondents agree at least somewhat an arrest would reflect an “outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance” — 77 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents to go along with the 46 percent of Democrats.
The grand jury is now back on Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss secretive proceedings. It was not immediately clear whether an additional witness might be called before the panel.
Trump raised anticipation that criminal charges were imminent with a March 18 post on his social media platform in which he said he expected to be arrested last Tuesday. He has since used the absence of an indictment to claim that the investigation is somehow faltering.
“I think they’ve already dropped the case,” Trump told reporters over the weekend. He repeated his claims that he was being unfairly targeted.
“It’s a fake case,” he said. “Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing.”
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article