Former President Trump’s legal team attempted to serve Stormy Daniels with a subpoena at a New York City bar last month, but she reportedly refused to accept it. According to a court filing, a process server working for Trump's lawyers approached Daniels with papers related to a documentary about her life and her involvement with Trump. However, Daniels allegedly did not acknowledge the server and continued into the venue without accepting the documents.
Daniels is expected to be a crucial witness in Trump’s hush money case, where he faces numerous counts of falsifying business records. This trial marks the first time a former president will stand trial over criminal charges. The process server stated that he tried to serve Daniels before a screening of the documentary film "Stormy" at a nightclub in Brooklyn.
Trump’s legal team is now seeking the court’s intervention to compel Daniels to comply with the subpoena. They included a photo purportedly taken by the process server showing Daniels walking away from him.
However, Daniels' lawyer has criticized the subpoena as an unwarranted intrusion and has argued that the requests have no relevance to Trump’s trial. He claims they never received the paperwork and described the subpoena as a harassment tactic.
The encounter occurred just weeks before the high-profile trial began in Manhattan. With seven jurors already selected, jury selection is set to resume soon. The trial will primarily focus on payments made by Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, to Daniels before the 2016 election, which Trump ultimately won.
Stormy Daniels is anticipated to testify regarding the $130,000 payment, allegedly aimed at silencing her allegations of an extramarital affair with Donald Trump in 2006. Trump has consistently denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the 34 charges levied against him.
Prosecutors assert that the Trump Organization reimbursed Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney, and deceitfully recorded the payments as legal expenses. While falsifying business records is categorized as a misdemeanor, prosecutors aim to demonstrate that Trump manipulated records with the intention of committing or concealing a separate crime, which would elevate the offense to a felony.
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