In a written order issued on Friday, Judge Juan Merchan granted prosecutors' motion to quash a subpoena from Donald Trump's lawyers. The subpoena sought to compel former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz to turn over additional records.
Merchan deemed Trump's request for 'all Documents' spanning a 13-month period from various individuals as overly broad and labeled it an improper fishing expedition. The topics covered in the request included 'Cohen's recollection of interactions with President Trump' and 'any form of bias or animosity toward President Trump.'
Additionally, Trump's legal team sought all documents related to a February 2021 internal memo concerning whether Stephanie Clifford, also known as 'Stormy Daniels,' committed 'extortion and/or larceny,' and whether President Trump was a 'victim of blackmail.'
Judge Merchan ruled that the information requested is protected as privileged work product and criticized the broad nature of the subpoena. He also denied a separate request within the subpoena that sought years' worth of communications among personnel within the Manhattan DA's office, describing it as an apparent attempt to access internal communications about discovery obligations.
The order highlighted that Trump's legal team had already received some discovery materials from Pomerantz as recently as March, prior to the commencement of the trial.
