Grand jury in Trump hush-money case to resume session on Monday: reports

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The grand jury in an alleged hush-money payment case relating to former U.S. President Donald Trump will reportedly return to session on Monday.

The grand jury is expected to reconvene in lower Manhattan, New York City, and may hear a witness in the afternoon, according to reports from multiple U.S. media outlets.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is reportedly investigating Trump's role in an alleged hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

The payment of 130,000 U.S. dollars was said to be used to prevent Daniels from going public about an alleged sexual encounter that she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump, a Republican who won the 2016 race and later served as U.S. president, has denied that the affair happened, dismissed any wrongdoing, and charged that the inquiry led by Bragg, a Democrat, is politically motivated.

"Prosecutorial misconduct is their new tool, and they're willing to use it at levels never seen before in our country," Trump said at a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, the past weekend.

The possible indictment of Trump has been closely watched as no former U.S. president has been indicted on criminal charges and he is running for the White House.

Republicans have rallied around Trump by attacking Bragg and lashing out that the case is yet another example of law enforcement being "weaponized" by Democrats for political purposes.

U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, tweeted last week that "House Republican efforts to interfere in the investigation of Trump are a blatant attempt to shield the former president from justice."

In addition to the Manhattan probe, Trump is under criminal investigation by a prosecutor in the U.S. state of Georgia for his efforts to overturn his loss in that state's 2020 presidential election.

He is also facing criminal probes by the U.S. Department of Justice for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, and in retaining classified documents at his private residence after leaving the White House.