Judge Juan Merchan criticized the defense team for trying to force NBC to hand over documents related to Stormy Daniels. A New York Judge has blocked Donald Trump’s lawyers from obtaining materials from NBC about a recent documentary featuring Stormy Daniels. The ruling by Judge Juan Merchan came just before a trial involving Trump and Daniels was set to begin on April 15. Trump is facing 34 felony charges in New York for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to Daniels and others during his presidential campaign in 2016. Judge Merchan called the defense team’s subpoena of NBC a “fishing expedition” and said it did not meet the legal burden required to compel a news organization to disclose its reporting materials.
This ruling is another setback for Trump, who is expected to be named the Republican Party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential race. He is facing multiple criminal cases, with the New York trial being the first to commence. The case revolves around accusations that Trump fabricated his company’s internal records to conceal the hush money payments. The payments, including $130,000 to Daniels, were allegedly made to silence her claims of an affair with Trump.
Merchan also rejected a request from the defense team to delay the trial until the US Supreme Court rules on Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in another case. Trump’s lawyers had previously tried to prevent Cohen and Daniels from testifying in the trial. The New York indictment was the first of four criminal cases against Trump to be announced. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming the payments were legitimate expenses. He has also denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels.
In response to Trump’s lawyers’ subpoena, Judge Merchan stated that it was overly broad and based on speculative claims of collusion between NBC Universal and Daniels. He said the subpoena was an attempt to access privileged documents from a news organization. Aside from the New York case, Trump is also facing federal charges in Florida for hoarding classified documents and in Washington, DC for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results. He is also involved in a criminal case in Georgia for efforts to overturn election results in that state.