Donald Trump’s lawyers tried to give Stormy Daniels a subpoena when she came to an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month. She is supposed to be a witness at the former president’s trial. But she refused to take it and left.
A person delivering legal papers for Trump’s lawyers said he gave the papers to Daniels but had to leave them on the ground because she wouldn’t take them. This was stated in a court document released on Wednesday.
“I told her she was given the papers and told her what they were,” said Dominic DellaPorte, who delivers legal documents. “She ignored me and continued walking into the place, and she had a blank expression. ”
Before a showing of the “Stormy” movie at the 3 Dollar Bill club, there was a fight between Trump’s lawyers and Daniels’ lawyer. This fight has been going on for a month and is still going on this week as Trump’s criminal trial starts in Manhattan.
Trump’s lawyers want Judge Juan M. to do something. Merchan wants Daniels to follow the subpoena. They included a picture that they said DellaPorte took of Daniels as she walked away.
Clark Brewster, Daniels’ lawyer, says they did not get the papers. He said the requests were like looking for something that is not necessary and have nothing to do with Trump’s trial for breaking the law.
Brewster wrote a letter to Merchan on April 9, saying that the process set up before the trial seems like it’s meant to harass or scare a regular witness. Brewster didn’t answer a message from The Associated Press right away.
Trump’s first criminal case that involves paying hush money is now going to trial. Seven people have been chosen to be jurors. The process of choosing the jury will start again on Thursday.
Daniels will talk about getting $130,000 in 2016 from Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she had with Trump years ago.
Cohen got paid back by Trump’s company for the payment. Trump is being blamed for changing his company’s records to keep secret the payment and other things he did to hide bad news during the 2016 election.
Last year, Trump said he didn’t do 34 bad things related to lying about his business records. He says he didn’t have sex with Daniels. His lawyers say that the money given to Cohen was for valid legal costs and was documented accurately.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said that if Trump decides to speak at the trial, they will question him about his recent legal losses to test if he is telling the truth. The documents were filed last month and kept confidential.
Trump has to give $454 million as a punishment because a judge said he lied about how much money he has. In a different court case, a group of people decided that he had to pay $83. 3 million for saying bad things about writer E. Jean Carroll said that he accused him of sexually hurting her.
Merchan said he wants to have a meeting on Friday to decide if it will be allowed.
According to the law in New York, prosecutors can ask witnesses about their past legal issues in some situations. Trump’s lawyers disagree. Trump wants to speak in court, but he doesn’t have to and can decide not to later.
Regarding the subpoena argument, Trump’s lawyers are trying again to get important information about Daniels, who is an important witness for the case.
They want a lot of papers about how the movie “Stormy” was made. The movie is about Stormy Daniels and how she became famous after being linked to Trump. It also talks about her time in the adult film industry.
They also want Daniels to say how much money she was paid for the movie.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the movie’s debut on NBC’s Peacock streaming service last month, a week before the trial was supposed to start, created bad publicity for Trump, making it hard for him to get a fair trial.
Trump’s lawyers say that Daniels is just trying to make money by using her reputation as a witness.
The subpoena asks for messages between Daniels and other people who might be witnesses in the trial, like Cohen and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who says she had a relationship with Trump. It also asks for any messages between Daniels and Carroll.
Earlier this month, Merchan stopped Trump from getting information about the documentary from NBC Universal by using legal power. He said that the subpoena and its demands are like a fishing trip, trying to find something.