'Improper fishing expedition': Judge Merchan slaps down Trump subpoena gambit

Judge Juan Merchan rejected Donald Trump's request to subpoena a former prosecutor in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.

The former president's lawyers had asked the court for testimony and documents from former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who called the hush money investigation a "zombie" case in his book and questioned whether charges were warranted, but Mercan rejected the request on a number of grounds.

"The Court finds that the request runs afoul of [a New York state law protecting an attorney's work product]," Merchan wrote in his ruling. "In fact, Defendant acknowledges that the memorandum is likely the prosecutor's 'opinion, theory, or conclusion' on the topics requested. Indeed, Defendant uses the term 'evaluating' within the request."

Trump's second and third requests were also rejected as "far too broad," and Merchan found they amounted to "an improper fishing expedition into general discovery," including "all documents" from multiple individuals seeking evidence of former attorney Michael Cohen's recollections about his time with the ex-president and "any form of bias or animosity toward President Trump."

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"Given the amount of materials related to these requests already turned over to the Defendant, there is no reasonable likelihood that the Second and Third Requests would uncover any information that is relevant and material to the proceedings," Merchan wrote.

Merchan also rejected a fourth request for a subpoena seeking "all documents reflecting communications" within the district attorney's office about the collection of evidence, which the judge considered an improper attempt to peek into the investigation.

"This appears to be an attempt to obtain DANY's internal communications about their discovery obligations," Merchan wrote. "The People's motion to quash this aspect of the Subpoena is granted."

Pomerantz testified last year before the House Judiciary Committee about the origins of the hush money case but declined to substantively answer questions by repeatedly invoking his Fifth Amendment rights.