Oops!
Donald Trump’s lawyer in his “hush money” case served the wrong guy with court papers — demanding that a Brooklyn man with nothing to do with the upcoming trial turn over evidence, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The pre-trial flub came after Trump attorney Todd Blanche sent a subpoena to a man they believed to be former District Attorney Supervising Rackets Investigator Jeremy Rosenberg in March, seeking files related to Trump’s fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen, the Manhattan DA’s office said.
But the man was, in fact, a separate Jeremy Rosenberg — a Brooklyn resident who appears to have had a bit of fun with Trump’s attorneys.
“I don’t have any files for you,” Rosenberg wrote back to the Trump lawyers, according to a filing from Trump’s attorneys released Monday.
Rosenberg added that the “phone number you provided was disconnected” and that he’d be keeping the $15 Trump’s lawyers had sent him to help pay for sending the documents.
Blanche, a veteran ex-prosecutor, complained earlier this week that the man they believed was the ex-DA Rosenberg had displayed a” flippant and dismissive approach” to the request “despite ample experience with the criminal justice system that should have instilled in him respect for this process and a criminal defendant’s rights.”
But in fact, Trump’s lawyers had simply served court papers on the wrong man, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote.
“The people believe the defendant has served the incorrect person,” Colangelo said in the filing.
“The people spoke with Mr. Rosenberg’s counsel, who informed the People that Mr. Rosenberg was not, in fact, served with the subpoena, that Mr. Rosenberg had not corresponded with defense counsel, and that Mr. Rosenberg does not have any connection to the Brooklyn address where the subpoena purportedly was served,” Colangelo added.
Blanche did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case, set for jury selection April 15, involves allegations that Trump covered up payments made before the 2016 election that kept porn star Stormy Daniels from telling the public about an alleged affair that she had with him.
Trump, 77, has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the case, which each carry a potential prison sentence of up to four years.