Donald Trump Loses One of His Witnesses

Judge Juan Merchan quashed former President Donald Trump's attempt to issue a subpoena to Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, on Friday.

Trump is facing trial in New York City on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment allegedly made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged the payment was meant to prevent her from speaking publicly about her claims of having an affair with the former president.

Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has denied having an affair with Daniels and pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges. He maintains his innocence and has accused Bragg and other prosecutors of targeting him for political purposes, criticizing the trial as a form of election interference.

On Friday, Merchan ruled that Trump's lawyers cannot force Pomerantz to turn over documents they previously sought from him. He granted the prosecution's motion to quash the subpoena, agreeing that the subpoena is "not endorsed by the court."

Merchan described Trump's attorneys' request for "all documents relating to the February 28, 2021, memorandum evaluating...whether (a) Stephanie Clifford a/k/a 'Stormy Daniels,' committed 'extortion' and/or 'larceny,' and (b) whether President Trump was a 'victim of blackmail'" as "impermissibly broad."

He wrote that a request for all documents from a 13-month period about Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen's "recollection of interactions with President Trump" and "any form of bias or animosity toward" Trump was also "far too broad" and "amount to an improper fishing expedition into general discovery."

Lastly, he ruled that the request for documents related to the district attorney's office's communications about the "collection of materials for purposes of discovery, disclosure, or litigation" of the indictment appeared to be "an attempt to obtain DANY's internal communications about their discovery obligation."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.

Pomerantz previously served as a prosecutor in Bragg's office and was involved in some parts of the criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump.

He resigned from the office in February 2022 over frustrations he had with Bragg's seeming unwillingness at the time to push forward with the Trump investigation. In his resignation letter, he wrote that there was "evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" and that Trump was "guilty of numerous felony violations."

The trial was set to resume on Friday. This week, the jury heard testimony from Daniels, who faced questioning from both prosecutors and Trump's legal team. Madeleine Westerhout, Trump's former White House aide, is expected to resume her testimony in the morning.