The Daily Fuckup

On Feb. 26, 2023, the Manhattan hush-money investigation into Donald Trump was still an open case, not a charging decision. Prosecutors had not yet secured an indictment, and the grand jury later voted on March 30, 2023. That means the status on this date was straightforward: the matter was still under review.

The case centered on a payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign and whether the way it was handled in New York business records or related filings broke state law. Trump denied the underlying affair, while Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, remained a key witness in the background of the inquiry.

Cohen had already been talking with prosecutors in the weeks before Feb. 26. He said Manhattan investigators had taken his phones as part of the review and had met with him for hours while they looked over messages, emails and recordings tied to the payment and related contacts. That reporting showed the investigation had not stalled; it was still being built out through documents and witness interviews.

For Trump, the important fact on Feb. 26 was not an indictment or a courtroom fight. It was that the Manhattan probe was still alive and moving toward a decision that had not yet arrived. The public turning point came later, when the grand jury returned charges on March 30, 2023.