New Stormy Daniels Documentary Could Further Upend Bragg’s Trump Prosecution

Stormy Daniels’ new documentary detailing her life after she sued President Trump could impact Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of the former president, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue, by contaminating the pool of potential jurors who could ultimately hear the case. The now-famous pornography actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, sued Mr. Trump in 2018 in order to break a non-disclosure agreement, and later for libel when Mr. Trump said their sexual encounter never happened. In return for her signature on the non-disclosure agreement, she was paid six figures. Now, Mr. Trump’s criminal trial for allegedly violating campaign finance law by paying her that settlement is on track to begin in the coming weeks. The documentary could complicate that, however. The film, titled “Stormy,” will be released on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock on Monday. A description says the film “delves into the life and times of Stormy Daniels, as she shares her story and account of events that have become part of American history.” The film was produced by the famous comedy writer Judd Apatow. “When I met Trump, he had told me he never wanted to be president, but then Trump got the Republican nomination, and that’s when sh–t got real,” Ms. Clifford says in a trailer for the movie. She is also seen praising her then-attorney, Michael Avenatti, for believing her and supporting her through her legal travails — only to later turn against him when she realized he was taking advantage of her and other clients for his own fame and political aspirations. After floating a run for president, Avenatti was convicted in 2020 for attempting to extort $25 million from Nike and later pleaded guilty to charges of stealing money from clients. He is serving his sentence in California and isn’t expected to be released until 2035. The preview shows Ms. Clifford experiencing in real-time the media scrutiny and threats she received as a result of her lawsuits against the former president. One man, whose name and relationship to Ms. Clifford is not disclosed, says in the trailer that some people would try to bring knives and guns to strip clubs where Ms. Daniels was performing. Her failed 2018 libel lawsuits have been costly. Originally, she was ordered to pay Mr. Trump’s legal fees, which amounted to nearly $300,000. Due to additional appeals and interest, that figure has now ballooned to $600,000. She has said she would rather go to prison than pay Mr. Trump a penny. Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue that to release the film just weeks before the trial begins is “unacceptable” and “prejudicial.” The former president’s legal team says of the film that “President Trump requires additional time to review” its contents and demands that “the Court must allow additional time for the prejudice from its release to abate prior to commencing jury selection.”Filmmakers say that they never had any intention of impacting the jury pool, but will stick to their March 17 release date. “We in no way wanted to inform any jury member,” a producer, Erin Carr, told Business Insider. “It’s really about the American public watching what happened to this woman and the consequences that she bears as a result of this.”The hush money trial was originally scheduled to begin on March 25, but that timeline has been extended after federal prosecutors handed over tens of thousands of pages of new documents to both the Trump legal team and the prosecution. The documents, which include information about Mr. Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen — who was convicted on charges related to the hush money payment scheme — will require time to review, Mr. Bragg said this last week. Mr. Trump’s team asked for a dismissal of all criminal charges, or at least a 90 day delay in the commencement of the trial. Mr. Bragg agreed to a 30 day delay, which the presiding judge, Juan Merchan, granted to give both sides time to review the material.

New Stormy Daniels Documentary Could Further Upend Bragg’s Trump Prosecution

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