The judge who presided over the former president Donald Trumpupcoming New York Criminal NBCUniversal on Friday rejected a subpoena offer for information involving a key witness in the hush money case, the adult movie star Stormy Daniels.
Trump subpoenaed NBCUniversal for information on “Stormy,” a documentary about the actress that recently premiered on the network’s streaming service Peacock. NBCUniversal is the parent company of both Peacock and NBC News.
Trump’s lawyers said they were seeking information that would show “a deal between NBCU and Daniels regarding the release date of the documentary,” as well as any information related to his trial, which is scheduled to begin on April 15.
Erica Forstadt, NBCUniversal’s Senior Vice President of Production and Development, said in a legal affidavit filed in the case that Daniels “does not have the authority to approve the content or release time of the Documentary.”
Judge Juan Merchan found that the subpoena was “too broad.” refused.
“Since the defendant’s allegations are purely speculative and without merit, his subpoena and the demands therein are the definition of a fishing expedition,” the judge wrote.
The judge added that “even if this Court finds that Defendant’s claim is not speculative … NBCUniversal’s motion will be granted because Defendant seeks unfettered access to the media organization’s records and materials in violation of state civil rights law.”
Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for NBCU declined to comment.
In the documentary, which began airing March 18 on the Peacock, Daniels talked about the road she’s increasingly faced. violent threats followed by Trump‘s indictment last year.
Trump is impeached 34 numbers for falsifying business records related to former attorney Michael Cohen’s hush money payments to Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump begged not guilty.
Daniels claimed she had sex with Trump in 2006, which Trump denied.