Michael Cohen to testify Monday in Trump hush-money probe

Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is scheduled to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush-money payments made on the former president's behalf, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. They were not authorized to speak publicly about grand jury proceedings and did so on condition of anonymity.

Cohen is a key witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation and his testimony is coming at a critical time, as prosecutors close in on a decision on whether to seek charges against Trump. Prosecutors sometimes save their most important witnesses until the end stages of a grand jury investigation.

Cohen has been meeting regularly with Manhattan prosecutors in recent weeks, including a day-long session Friday to prepare for his appearance before the grand jury, which has been hearing evidence in the matter since January.

Cohen declined to comment to reporters as he left the meeting, saying he'd be "taking a little bit of time now to stay silent and allow the D.A. build their case."

The Manhattan district attorney's office, which thus far has declined to comment on the investigation, also declined to address whether Cohen would testify before the grand jury.

Trump continued to lash out at the probe on social media Friday, calling the case a "Scam, Injustice, Mockery, and Complete and Total Weaponization of Law Enforcement in order to affect a Presidential Election!"

Prosecutors appear to be looking at whether Trump committed crimes in arranging the payments, or in how they were accounted for internally at Trump's company, the Trump Organization. One possible charge would be falsifying business records, a misdemeanor unless prosecutors could prove it...