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Editor’s note: This article and its headline have been updated to reflect the changes in The Daily Beast’s original reporting.
A woman who was once a key witness in the Manhattan District Attorney’s “hush money” case against Donald Trump told reporters Monday there’s something different about the investigation that’s “bigger than any taxes, paper, insurance, banks…it’s bigger than money.”
Her claims turned out to be a “media stunt,” according to The Daily Beast, which first reported her remarks.
The Daily Beast had reported it spoke with Jennifer Weisselberg, who is “a one-time Trump family confidant embroiled in a bitter divorce,” and the former daughter-in-law of longtime (now former) Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg.
“Asked about the investigation outside the DA’s office at 12:30 p.m., [Jennifer] Weisselberg told The Daily Beast that ‘something has changed and it’s up-leveled.’”
“It’s bigger than any taxes, paper, insurance, banks, insurance… it’s bigger than money,” she had told The Daily Beast.
But hours later, The Daily Beast updated its reporting, stating: “Jennifer Weisselberg did not testify before the grand jury, even though she told reporters that she did.”
“Weisselberg was actually at the DA’s office to testify before a separate grand jury totally unrelated to Trump concerning a personal matter, according to a person familiar with her situation. The media stunt casts doubt on her reliability as a witness and could prevent investigators from using her to testify in the future about alleged tax dodging at the Trump Organization, according to this person.”
But The Daily Beast also reported, citing sources, that Trump could be indicted in “days.”
READ MORE: ‘A Non-Starter’: Trump’s Key Defense in ‘Imminent’ Manhattan Indictment Slapped Aside
“The decision by prosecutors to put them on the stand behind closed doors—something they’ve avoided doing for years in previous iterations of this investigation—indicates that Trump could be criminally indicted in the coming days, according to two people close to the investigation.”
Prosecutors giving Trump the opportunity to testify, which he has now declined, is another indication the investigation is coming to a close.
“Typically, an indictment comes just days later.”
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