Could Donald Trump go to prison?
FORMER President Donald Trump is facing two investigations into possible criminal conduct.
If charged, he'd become the first former president charged with a criminal offense.
Why is Donald Trump being investigated?
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance has been probing the Trump Organization's finances as well as Trump's personal monetary affairs for at least two years, court records show.
He convened a special grand jury to consider evidence in a criminal investigation into Trump's finances, the Associated Press reported.
The development signals that prosecutors are moving toward seeking charges against the former president in their investigation, which included a lengthy battle of Trump's tax returns.
Vance's investigation concerns a variety of matters, such as hush-money payments paid to women on Trump’s behalf, property valuations and employee compensation.
The Democratic prosecutor has been using an investigative grand jury through the course of his probe to issue subpoenas and obtain documents.
The investigation also includes scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with his lenders, a land donation he made to qualify for an income tax deduction, and tax write-offs his company claimed on millions of dollars in consulting fees it paid.
The former president's business dealings are also currently being investigated by New York State's Attorney General.
The AG's office confirmed last week that the probe into the organization was "no longer civil," and that the company was being investigated in a "criminal capacity."
Could Donald Trump go to prison?
A grand jury will determine if Trump, other high-ranking members of the Trump Organization, or the business itself should be indicted if prosecutors present the panel with criminal charges.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison.
New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer told NPR'S Terry Gross that people in Trump's circle believe the former president is immune to prison time.
"People I've talked to who know Trump, including – I think it was Barbara Res who was an engineer who worked with the Trump Organization and for a number of years. She said to me, he will never, ever serve time in prison," Mayer explained.
"He would – she predicts that he would flee. And so do other people suggest that he would get out of the country. I don't – it's hard to know what to expect."
"But it's – for me, anyway, it's hard for me to contemplate him truly in an orange jumpsuit at, you know, Rikers Island," she said.
What has Trump said about the investigation?
Trump contends the investigation is a “witch hunt.”
“This is purely political, and an affront to the almost 75 million voters who supported me in the Presidential Election, and it’s being driven by highly partisan Democrat prosecutors,” he said in a statement.
Trump also complained that he was being "unfairly attacked and abused by a corrupt political system.”
He claims the investigations are part of a Democratic plot to silence his voters and block him from running for president again.
Vance’s office declined to comment on Trump's remarks.
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