On Tuesday, April 23, the second day of the criminal trial of Donald Trump’s “hush money” took place. The first witness testified that day.
David Pecker, the former publisher of the American tabloid National Enquirer, was a witness and described how in 2015, he reached an agreement with Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to suppress negative reports about Trump. This included helping facilitate hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and covering up Trump’s extramarital affair with Karen McDougal, while also publishing negative reports about Trump’s political opponents.
These tabloids employed a business strategy known as “catch-and-kill”, where they would buy exclusive rights to celebrity scandals, promise never to publish the information, and then demand compensation from those involved. This tactic was well-known during the 2016 presidential election.
According to court documents, a representative for Daniels contacted the tabloid’s parent company AMI in October 2016 offering to disclose her story about her extramarital affair with Trump. Pecker then contacted Cohen, whose guilty plea agreement indicated that he subsequently negotiated the deal.
Manhattan prosecutors have charged Pecker with aiding in the hush money payment to Daniels, alleging that the transaction was part of a larger conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Pecker has reached a deal with prosecutors to receive immunity in exchange for his testimony and cooperation before a grand jury, and his company AMI also signed an agreement with the prosecutors.
During his less than two-hour testimony, Pecker revealed the following key points:
1. He has known Trump for a long time.
Pecker stated that he has known Trump since the 1980s and had a good relationship with him. He even proposed launching a magazine called “Trump Style” in 1989 and had multiple conversations with Trump regarding the reality show “The Apprentice.”
He described Trump as knowledgeable, detail-oriented, cautious with money, and frugal.
2. He helped Trump suppress negative rumors.
Pecker revealed that he attended Trump’s campaign announcement in 2015 and had never purchased a negative report about Trump prior to their meeting. He mentioned receiving a call in August 2015 to meet with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower where he agreed to act as Trump’s “eyes and ears” and prevent negative stories about women from being published.
He noted an increase in communication with Cohen after Trump announced his candidacy, with Cohen being contacted directly if any negative news about Trump surfaced.
He believed it was mutually beneficial and claimed that Cohen played an informal role in Trump’s campaign.
To be continued in the next message.