David Pecker says Donald Trump is the “most eligible bachelor who has dated the most beautiful women” and that’s why people came forward to sell stories about Trump during the former president’s hush money trial on Tuesday. He testified that this was the reason.
The former publisher of the National Enquirer took the stand for a second day in Manhattan Supreme Court, giving evidence about her longtime relationship with the former president.
Mr. Pecker, 72, described how in 2015 he, Mr. Trump and former lawyer Michael Cohen discussed what they could do to “help the campaign.”
He said a “mutually beneficial” agreement was reached “among friends” that benefited the Trump campaign and also led to sales of the magazine.
“I said I was going to run or publish positive articles about Mr. Trump and negative articles about his opponents,” Pecker told the court.
“I was someone who thought there would be a lot of women trying to pitch their stories. My experience is that when someone runs like this, these women call the National Bureau of Investigation. “It’s common for people to try to sell their story,” he added.
Mr. Pecker said he had known Mr. Trump since 1999 and introduced Mr. Trump to Mr. Cohen in 2007, telling him to consult him “if anything negative came up.”
The former president looked stiff as former allies answered prosecutors’ questions and jurors were shown examples of a front-page Enquirer article about Cohen’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election. I was watching over him.
One negative article attacked then-Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson with the headline, “Failed Surgeon Ben Carson Leaves Sponge in Patient’s Brain!”
Two critical headlines from Sen. Cruz (R-Texas), who is also a presidential candidate, were “Porn Stars Shame Ted Cruz” and “Ted Cruz Drinks to Lose.”
Mr. Pecker said he called Cohen shortly after receiving the information from the Trump Tower doorman, claiming to know of Mr. Trump’s love child, which he had hidden with his maid.
She recalled Mr. Cohen replying, “That’s definitely not true, but I’ll look into it.”
Still, Pecker testified that he agreed to pay doorman Dino Sajudin $30,000 for exclusive rights because he knew it would be “very embarrassing for the campaign” if the article got out.
Prosecutors say the agreement with Sajudin was the first “catch-and-kill” arrangement put together by Pecker, Cohen and Trump.
Mr. Cohen offered to take a DNA test on Mr. Trump to prove that the maid’s child was not his, but Mr. Pecker said that was not necessary.
“I said I believe this is a big story and I believe it’s important to take it out of the market,” Pecker said, recalling a conversation with Cohen.
Mr. Cohen responded, “My boss will be very happy.”
A separate deal was also reached regarding Playboy Playmate Karen McDougall’s story about her year-long affair with Trump.
Mr. Pecker recalled that Mr. Trump personally called Mr. Cohen, rather than having Mr. Cohen handle the article, and that the publisher offered to buy Mr. McDougall’s article, but Mr. Trump I was worried that it would eventually be exposed.
“[Trump] I said, “I don’t buy the story.” When you do something like this, you’re always going to get caught,” Pecker testified. However, the trio ultimately hatched a plan to pay McDougal $150,000 to keep the story from seeing the light of day.
However, claims that McDougal had an affair with Trump were first reported by the Wall Street Journal in November 2016.
Earlier Tuesday, before Mr. Pecker took the stand, Chris Conroy, another prosecutor in the prosecutor’s office, ordered Mr. Trump to be held in contempt and sentenced to 10,000 yen for allegedly violating Judge Juan Marchan’s gag order 10 times. Asked for dollar fines (twice on campaign sites and eight more times on Truth). Social – by tracking potential witnesses and jurors.
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Marchan ruled before the trial that Trump could not speak publicly about witnesses, jurors or court officials.
President Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, said his client has publicly attacked Cohen and Stormy Daniels (another potential witness from whom he allegedly benefited) and other political attacks. He countered that he was merely complying with what he was authorized to do under verbal orders.
The judge became frustrated with Blanche’s insistence that she was not making an argument by citing examples.
Machan clarified that just mentioning Cohen’s name would not violate the gag order, but using his name in connection with the trial would violate the gag order.
The justices did not rule in court after arguments over whether to hold Trump in contempt. It was not immediately clear when his decision would be announced.
At around 11 a.m. after the gag order hearing, President Trump revealed the truth and said, “I was robbed of my constitutional right to free speech.”
The trial ended at 2pm on Tuesday, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Pecker is expected to return to the stand when court resumes Thursday.
Additional reporting by Kaydi Pelletier
