Donald Trump‘s attempt to subpoena Comcast-owned NBCUniversal for material related to a documentary about Stormy Daniels was rejected by the judge overseeing his upcoming criminal trial on April 15.
Justice Juan Merchan dismissed Trump’s allegation that Daniels and NBC collaborated to release the film close to the trial to tarnish his reputation, labeling it a “fishing expedition.”
Trump faces charges of covering up his former lawyer, Michael Cohen‘s $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep her silence before the 2016 election regarding an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and denies any encounter with Daniels.
The documentary, titled “Stormy,” premiered on NBC’s streaming service Peacock on March 18. Initially scheduled for March 25, Trump’s trial was delayed by three weeks after he accused prosecutors of withholding evidence related to Cohen. However, the judge found no merit in Trump’s claims.
Merchan’s order stated that Trump subpoenaed NBC on March 11 for documents regarding the documentary’s release date and any compensation to Daniels.
NBC petitioned Merchan to block the subpoena on March 20, arguing that Daniels had no authority over the documentary’s content or release schedule.
Trump faces three other criminal indictments without firm trial dates, stemming from his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden and his handling of government documents post-presidency.
However, the hush money case in New York state court may be the only trial preceding the anticipated rematch with Biden in November.
