NEW YORK –
Donald Trump’s legal team says he attempted to serve a subpoena to Stormy Daniels when she arrived at a bar event in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness in the former president’s criminal trial, refused to accept it and walked away.
A process server working for Trump’s lawyers said he approached Daniels with documents demanding information related to a recently released documentary about her life and relationship with Trump, but was forced to “leave them at her feet,” according to a court filing. made public on Wednesday.
“I said she was served when I identified her and explained what the documents were,” process server Dominic DellaPorte wrote. “She didn’t recognize me and she kept walking into the place, and she had no expression on her face.”
The meeting, before a screening of the movie “Stormy” at the 3 Dollar Bill nightclub, set off a month-long battle between Trump’s lawyers and Daniels’ lawyer that continued this week as the presumptive Republican nominee’s criminal trial began. in Manhattan.
Trump’s lawyers ask Judge Juan M. Merchán to force Daniels to comply with the subpoena. In the filing, they included a photo they said DellaPorte took of Daniels as she walked away from her.
Daniels’ attorney, Clark Brewster, claims they never received the paperwork. He described the requests as an “unjustified fishing expedition” with no relevance to Trump’s criminal trial.
“The process, initiated on the eve of trial, appears calculated to provoke harassment and/or intimidation of a lay witness,” Brewster wrote in an April 9 letter to Merchan. Brewster did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The hush money case is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial. So far seven jurors have been seated. Jury selection will resume Thursday.
Daniels is expected to testify about a $130,000 payment she received in 2016 from one of Trump’s lawyers at the time, Michael Cohen, to prevent her from speaking publicly about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump years earlier.
Trump’s company later reimbursed Cohen for that payment. Trump is accused of falsifying company records to hide the nature of that payment and other work he performed to bury negative stories during the 2016 campaign.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He denies having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His attorneys argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and were properly recorded.
In a separate document made public Wednesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said that if Trump decides to testify at the trial, prosecutors plan to challenge his credibility by questioning him about his recent legal setbacks. The presentation was made last month under seal.
Trump was recently ordered to pay a $454 million civil penalty following a trial in which a judge ruled that he had lied about his wealth in financial statements. In another trial, a jury said he was liable for $83.3 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault.
Merchan said he plans to hold a hearing Friday to decide whether that will be allowed.
Under New York law, prosecutors can question witnesses about past legal matters under certain circumstances. Trump’s lawyers object. Trump has said he wants to testify, but he is not required to do so and can always change his mind.
As for the subpoena dispute, it marks the latest attempt by Trump’s lawyers to reveal potentially damaging information about Daniels, a key prosecution witness.
They are demanding a series of documents related to the promotion and editing of the documentary “Stormy,” which explores Daniels’ career in the adult film industry and her rise to celebrity since her alleged relationship with Trump became public.
They also ask Daniels to reveal how much, if anything, he received for the film.
Trump’s lawyers contend that the film’s release last month on NBC’s Peacock streaming service, a week before the trial originally began, stoked negative publicity about Trump, clouding his ability to get a fair trial.
In documents made public Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers accuse Daniels of “simply seeking to promote his brand and make money based on his status as a witness.”
The subpoena also demands communications between Daniels and other potential witnesses in the trial, including Cohen and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who alleges she had an affair with Trump. It also requests any communications between Daniels and Carroll.
Earlier this month, Merchan blocked an attempt by Trump to subpoena NBC Universal for information related to the documentary. He wrote that the subpoena and the demands contained within it “are the very definition of a fishing expedition.”