Donald Trump Tried to Subpoena Stormy Daniels, She Refused

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is said to have tried to subpoena Stormy Daniels, although she refused to answer.

Daniels is a former adult actress and sex worker who rose to fame after her connection to Trump was revealed. She has a documentary, Stormy, which details her career and her handling of her sudden fame, which is available for streaming on Peacock. During a screening of Stormy at a popular gay bar in Brooklyn, a process server for the Trump teams tried to serve Daniels an order to reveal information regarding the contents of the documentary. Trump’s lawyers claim the documentary—released a week before Trump’s trial was set to begin—garnered negative publicity and harmed the chances of a fair trial.

Daniels allegedly denied the papers, so they were left at her feet, according to a court filing. Dominic DellaPorte, the process server, says Daniels “had no expression on her face.” 

Trump’s lawyers attempted to get a judge to force Daniels to comply and demanded to know how much Daniels was financially compensated for the film. Daniels’ lawyer, Clark Brewster, claims the subpoena was not received, and is irrelevant regardless. He claims it is an attempt to intimidate a witness.

This all comes amid Trump’s hush money trial, in which Daniels is set to testify. The case relates to a $130,000 payment made to Daniels in 2016 by Michael Cohen, a former Trump lawyer. Cohen was reimbursed, and Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up the payment. This payment is said to have prevented Daniels from speaking about her sexual encounters with the former president. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He also claims his payment to Cohen is legit, as he never slept with Daniels.

This is the first of four criminal cases against Trump to go to trial.