Manhattan prosecutors suddenly canceled a scheduled grand jury session Wednesday in the investigation into former President Donald Trump over hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The move at least temporarily slows a decision on whether to charge the ex-president, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The reason for the cancellation is unclear.
Rumors swirling on social media say Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “cherry-picked” documents and left out some that could have exonerated Trump and caused the cancellation, but that rumor is unconfirmed.
Insiders reportedly told Fox News there was major dissension” in the Manhattan DA’s office over the “weakness” of the potential charges.
Security concerns were cited by The Associated Press.
“We can’t confirm or comment on Grand Jury matters,” Bragg’s office said about the sudden cancellation.
The grand jurors were told to be on standby for Thursday, another day when the New York panel has been meeting, three of the people said. When the grand jury next meets, it may hear from yet another witness, according to a person familiar with proceedings that appear to be nearing a decisive vote on whether or not to indict Trump.
The panel has been hearing from final witnesses, even as Trump himself has been raging online against the investigation and claiming his arrest is imminent.
Law enforcement officials have accelerated security preparations in the event of unrest accompanying an unprecedented charge against a former U.S. president.
The postponement comes amid mounting signs that the grand jury is nearing the completion of its work. The panel is probing Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to the porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about an alleged sexual encounter she said she had with Trump years earlier.
Trump has denied the claim, insisted he did nothing wrong, and has attacked the investigation, led by Bragg, as politically motivated.
Prosecutors had recently invited Trump himself to appear before the grand jury, and on Monday heard from a witness favorable to his case as a way to ensure that the panel would be presented with any information that could conceivably be considered exculpatory.
Trump over the weekend stated that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, though the day came and went without that happening.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article