For nearly five years, confidential records identified the investigation being conducted by a Manhattan grand jury as the “Investigation into the Business and Love Affairs of John Doe.”
But soon, that secret will have a more familiar name: “New Yorkers vs. Donald J. Trump.”
That case, which the Manhattan grand jury approved Thursday, is the product of a tortuous investigation that began in the summer of 2018.
On that date, Trump was president and the person leading that inquiry was Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the then-District Attorney.
Michael D. Cohen, who used to fix all of Trump’s affairs, pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a hush-up payment to a porn star.
Vance used that guilty plea to open an investigation to determine whether Trump and his company had violated New York State law.
The assistant district attorney he appointed didn’t get very far, as the US attorney’s office that charged Cohen told Vance to wait until they finished their own investigation, which took nearly a year.
The prosecution encountered another obstacle. After they requested Trump’s tax returns and other financial records, he sued to stop his accountants from turning over the records.
The lawsuit took 18 months and finally reached the Supreme Court, which ruled twice in Vance’s favor. When prosecutors obtained Trump’s tax returns in March 2021, they expanded the investigation beyond the money given to silence the porn star and also reviewed her business practices.
In November, the Trump Organization was indicted in a tax fraud case involving off-the-books gratuities.
After the holidays, the district attorney who replaced Vance, Alvin L. Bragg, called for a grand jury to hear evidence about Trump. Instead of focusing on his financial records, the prosecution began calling witnesses about the money he paid to silence the porn actress.
In this way, the long investigation came full circle.
