Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump watches in the courtroom as his criminal trial begins in Manhattan State Court on charges that he falsified business records to hide money he paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 in New York City, USA, April 23, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Former National Enquirer editor David Pecker testified Tuesday in Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial that his outlet “embellished” negative stories about Trump’s political rivals during the 2016 election.
Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen would contact him and ask the tabloid to publish an article about one of Trump’s opponents, Pecker testified in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Cohen sent an article about one of those opponents, like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the Enquirer “would embellish it from there,” Pecker testified.
He added that he understood Cohen to be standing up for himself and Trump.
Pecker was a key figure in the alleged “catch and kill” plan to influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump years ago. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 payment to one of those women, porn star Stormy Daniels.
Pecker is the first witness to testify in the historic trial against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The process is expected to last six weeks.
Before Pecker returned to the stand, Judge Juan Merchan held a hearing on whether the former president should be held in contempt for allegedly violating his gag order 10 times in online posts.
Seven of these contributions were made during the jury selection process last week. Most either referenced or linked to articles that referenced Cohen, a key witness in the trial.
In one of Trump’s posts on Truth Social, he repeated Fox News host Jesse Watters’ claim that “undercover liberal activists” are “lying to the judge to get on the Trump jury.”
The posts “undoubtedly reference known witnesses and potential jurors in this criminal trial,” violating Trump’s confidentiality policy, Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy wrote in a court filing Thursday.
During Tuesday morning’s hearing, Conroy accused Trump of violating the gag order again on Monday when he spoke about Cohen outside the courtroom.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in Manhattan State Court in New York City on April 23 during his criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide money he spent in 2016 for silencing the porn star Stormy Daniels had paid, continues. 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Prosecutors will file a plea later Tuesday based on the latest alleged violation, similar to those that triggered the contempt hearing, Conroy said.
“His disobedience to the order is willful. It’s intentional,” Conroy said. “He knows what he’s not allowed to do and does it anyway.”
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche countered: “There was absolutely no intentional violation of the gag order.”
Blanche noted that Trump’s gag order does not prevent him from responding to political attacks. He argued that Trump’s posts were in response to political commentary and were not focused on testimony.
Trump is trying to carefully comply with the gag order, Blanche said. But Merchan didn’t seem convinced.
“Mr Blanche, you lose all credibility in this court,” the judge said.
Prosecutors want Merchan to charge Trump with contempt of court. If that happens, Merchan could technically impose penalties ranging from a small fine to 30 days in county jail.
Conroy said at the hearing that while the state does not intend to lock up Trump, Merchan should remind him that “incarceration is an option should it be necessary.”
The judge did not rule during the hearing, which ended just before 11 a.m. ET.
Pecker testifies
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass first questioned Pecker about his past with Trump, establishing their extensive business relationship before Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign announcement.
Trump’s former reality TV show “The Apprentice” raised his national profile and helped boost ratings at the National Enquirer, which covered him “religiously,” Pecker said. The two men spoke either monthly or quarterly, said Pecker, who described their relationship as “mutually beneficial.”
According to an email presented in court, Pecker was invited by Cohen to Trump’s campaign kickoff in June 2015 at Trump Tower.
Two months later, Pecker attended a meeting with Trump, Cohen and former Trump adviser Hope Hicks, who asked the publisher what he could do to support the campaign. Pecker testified that he told the group he would publish positive stories about Trump and negative stories about Trump’s opponents.
He also vowed to be the “eyes and ears” of the campaign, meaning he would inform Cohen of any negative information about Trump that might come to light.
“I was the person who thought that because Mr. Trump was known as the most eligible bachelor, a lot of women would come out to try to sell their stories. And went out with the most beautiful women,” said Pecker.
“And from my previous experience, it was clear that it was quite common for such women running for public office to call magazines like the National Enquirer to try to sell their stories.”
The agreement was not put in writing, Pecker testified. “It was just an agreement between friends.”
Pecker later outlined a deal to pay $30,000 to Dino Sajudin, a former Trump Tower doorman who sold the story that Trump had a child with a maid who worked in the building.
After Dylan Howard, then editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, was tipped off about the story in October 2015, Pecker testified that he called Cohen “immediately.”
Cohen said the story was “absolutely not true” but said he would look into it, Pecker testified. Pecker said he instructed Howard to buy the story so it would be “taken off the market.” Howard negotiated the amount of $30,000 and Pecker told Cohen that the publisher would pay for it.
It was the first time a source was paid to cover up a story about Trump, Pecker testified.
Pecker and Howard concluded that the story was untrue. But “I made the decision to purchase the story because it could potentially embarrass the campaign and Mr. Trump,” Pecker testified.
Read more about Trump’s hush money trial
On Monday, jurors heard the prosecution’s opening statement alleging that Trump led a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election. Opening statements also came from the defense, which denied that Trump committed a crime.
“It was voter fraud, pure and simple,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told jurors.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche fired back: “I have a spoiler alert: There is nothing wrong with influencing an election. That’s called democracy.”
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to discreetly compensate Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 in late 2016 for her silence about an alleged sexual tryst with Trump years earlier.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses Trump of using the hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election, which he would later win.
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2024-04-23 18:03:14
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