The “zombie theory” of the district attorney: Alvin L. Bragg and the prosecutor for the Stormy Daniels hush money case

The district attorney has referred to the inquiry as a “zombie theory” for years because of it’s regularity over the course of the inquiry.

The first visible sign of progress for Mr. Bragg came this month when Mr. Cohen appeared at the district attorney’s office in Lower Manhattan to meet with prosecutors for the first time in more than a year. One of the people said he is expected to return in February for another interview with the prosecutors.

Allen H. Weisselberg, the company’s former chief financial officer, was also involved in reimbursing Mr. Cohen. And, according to Mr. Cohen, Mr. Weisselberg was involved in a discussion with Mr. Trump about whether to pay Ms. Daniels.

Mr. Weisselberg was sentenced to time in the Rikers Island jail after pleading guilty to a tax fraud scheme unrelated to the hush money deal, which is why the Trump Organization was found guilty in December. He was a star witness in that case but he never implicated Mr. Trump in any wrongdoing.

In 2018, when Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance charges stemming from his role in the hush money payments, he pointed the finger at Mr. Trump, saying the payout was done “in coordination with, and at the direction of” the president. Federal prosecutors agreed that Mr. Trump was behind the deal but never charged him or his company with a crime.

For all that he remains popular with many Republican voters, Mr. Trump, according to people who have spoken with him, is concerned about facing a criminal charge, something he has worked to avoid since the late 1970s. He learned the techniques from his old lawyer Roy M. Cohn, who favors attacking the legal system while trying to work inside connections.

In the Georgia investigation, Mr. Trump has called Fani T. Willis, the district attorney leading the inquiry, as well as other Black prosecutors investigating him, “racist.”

He has relentlessly denounced the Justice Department as partisan and attacked Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who recently brought a successful fraud prosecution against Mr. Trump’s company and is now pursuing potential criminal charges in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

The Decree of a Political Journalist, Bob Woodward, in a U.S. Court of First Amendment Fundamental Laws

The reporters of the Times cover politics. Journalists are independent observers, so we rely on them. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. Giving money to any candidate or political cause is included, as are marches or rallies in support of a movement.

On Monday, Mr. Trump filed suit against the journalist Bob Woodward, saying that Mr. Woodward had released recordings of interviews with him as an audiobook without his permission. Mr. Woodward and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, called the suit, which seeks $49 million in damages, “without merit.”

“You can wear down a private party if they do not have the same resources as you, or you can settle a civil case and make it go away, but criminal cases are not about money,” said Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and F.B.I. official. “Criminal cases are about liberty and justice, and it is really rather difficult — if not impossible — to wear down federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. and make them go away.”