United States: On Friday, a judge overseeing the former U.S. president Donald Trump’s April 15 criminal trial blocked his subpoena, which sought material from Comcast-owned (CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal related to a recent documentary about adult actress Stormy Daniels.
Unsubstantiated Claims
Judge Merchan asserted that the accusation by Trump that both Daniels and NBC had the intent of publishing the film close to the trial with the sole purpose of harming him was unsubstantiated, as reported by Reuters.
“His subpoena and the demands therein are the very definition of a fishing expedition,” the judge wrote in a court order.
Trump’s lawyers didn’t communicate anything. Neither did NBC Universial at the point of requests for comment.
Trump is impeached for concealing his former lawyer, Michael Cohen’s USD 130,000 settlement to Daniels for her silence against him before the 2016 election, a matter relating to a sexual encounter that she said had happened with Trump in 2006.
The 2024 republican presidential candidate has pleaded not guilty to all the 34 charges of falsifying business records and claims he has never met such person by name Daniels, whose real is Stephanie Clifford.
Documentary Premiere and Trial Delay
The title of the documentary, “Stormy,” premiered on March 18 on Peacock, the streaming service under NBC.
The trial will start on March 25, but Merchan delayed it by three weeks after Trump said the prosecutors with the Manhattan DA’s office intentionally kept certain evidence from him that might be used to defend Cohen. The judge also ruled out those concerns as unfounded.
Overall, in his opinion given Friday, Merchan says that Trump filed a subpoena against NBC on March 11 for documents related to the trial’s air date and Daniels’s payment. NBC served Merchan to resist the subpoena on March 20, and Daniels had no right to approve the content or release time of the documentary film as well, the order said.
Denial of Charges
Trump also faces trials of three other criminal indictments, but the set court dates for those are not yet clear. Consequently, the dime excessive funds case in New York City court in Manhattan could be the only one that will be entered into evidence before his expected rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden at the next presidential election on November 5, as reported by Reuters.
The other two cases originate in Trump’s vain attempts to reverse his 2020 defeat by Biden and handle the government’s classified documents after he left the presidency in early 2021. He has also denied the charges in those cases.