Trump Says Testimony ‘Breathtaking’
President Trump said the trial today “was breathtaking.”
“Breathtaking and astounding,” he told reporters after leaving the courtroom. “This is a trial that should’ve never happened, this is a case that should’ve never been filed and was really an incredible, an incredible day. Open your eyes. And we can’t let this continue to happen to our country.”
Pecker Initially Misremembered Meeting Date
Mr. Pecker initially testified to a grand jury that the 2015 meeting happened the first week of August. Prosecutors informed him that Mr. Trump was away to participate in a debate the first week of August 2015.
“And you change your testimony here,” Mr. Bove said.
“When I discovered that,” Mr. Pecker started.
“When you say ‘discover,’ you mean that somebody told you that the meeting took place in the middle of August,” Mr. Bove said.
Mr. Pecker said he didn’t know the exact date.
Mr. Bove questioned Mr. Pecker on several other meetings had with prosecutors, and Mr. Pecker could not recall specifics or dates, looking embarrassed.
The court broke for the day.
Pecker First Flagged Negative Trump Story in 1998
Mr. Pecker affirmed for the defense that he had done analyses and determined that stories about Donald Trump drove sales for the National Enquirer.
He said one of the first times he gave Mr. Trump a heads up about a potentially negative story was in 1998, though it was unsuccessful.
“That’s almost 17 years prior to the meeting you described in August 2015. Seventeen years of providing President Trump with a heads up about potentially negative publicity?” Mr. Bove asked.
“Correct,” Mr. Pecker said.
He also affirmed that he had not heard the term “catch and kill” used for his tabloid practice until the investigation, from the prosecutors.
“Most celebrities want positive treatment in all publications?” Mr. Bove asked.
“They do,” Mr. Pecker said. He affirmed that many politicians also work with the media to promote their image.
“And sometimes when politicians do that, it’s to try to win elections? Nothing surprising about that?” Mr. Bove asked.
“Correct,” Mr. Pecker said.
He testified he did something similar about a story about the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, and Mr. Schwarzenegger.
Mr. Pecker affirmed that after the incident with Mr. Schwarzenegger, he initiated an internal investigation at AMI and implemented new policies around purchasing stories.
He also affirmed that there was another example where he purchased photos of Tiger Woods as leverage against the celebrity, with no intention of running those photos but to get Mr. Woods to agree to appear in his publications because the golfer had an exclusive contract with Golf Illustrated. In another case, they purchased a story about Mark Wahlberg and did not publish it.
They had also similarly worked with Rahm Emanuel after he left the Obama White House to campaign for Mayor of Chicago. At the time, Mr. Pecker was trying to acquire Playboy in Chicago.
Defense Cross-Examines Pecker
Defense attorney Emil Bove is questioning Mr. Pecker, beginning with his stake in AMI and fiduciary obligations.
“Part of AMI’s model was to purchase a story, yes? And on Tuesday, you referred to AMI’s model as ‘checkbook journalism,'” Mr. Bove asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Bove asked whether it was standard practice in these agreements to require sources to not disclose the story to other parties, because then it would be of less value.
“Standard operating procedure, yes?” Mr. Bove asked.
“Correct,” Mr. Pecker said.
“And sometimes you decided not to run a story. And there were a lot of reasons. Can you give us some examples?” Mr. Bove asked.
Mr. Pecker said the first thing before publishing is to check whether the story was true, and then “review” it to determine whether it was “something readers would want to read about.” Then, if they don’t think there is “enough” to a story they “would try to trade the story for a better one.”
Mr. Pecker also affirmed that they have purchased stories to use as leverage against celebrities, and this was also a standard practice.
“And AMI has used hundreds of thousands of source agreements in the way we just talked about?” Mr. Bove asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Pecker said.
He affirmed that payments for these deals were all handled by one individual, to prevent leaks.
Pecker Says Trump Was His ‘Mentor’
Mr. Pecker said he did not contact President Trump at the time.
“I felt that with the investigation going on at the same time, I thought it would be inappropriate to respond or have any conversation with Mr. Trump,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Steinglass asked about his feelings toward President Trump today.
“Mr. Pecker, as you sit here today, do you have any bad feelings or ill will towards the defendant?” he asked.
“On the contrary, I thought that Donald Trump was my mentor and he helped me throughout my career,” Mr. Pecker said. He said that as an example, after 9/11, at his offices in Boca Raton, Florida, they received multiple letters with Anthrax. One of his editors inhaled it an ended up dying not long after.
“I was basically in a very difficult place, and the first person who called me, if I needed help, was Donald Trump. And he was very helpful, he recommended an attorney, he helped introduce me to … the insurance company who had the insurance on the building,” Mr. Pecker said. “Even though we haven’t spoken or I haven’t seen him, I still consider him a friend.”
Pecker Said FBI Seized His Phone
Mr. Steinglass asked Mr. Pecker if he came to learn that the FBI had search warrants on the home and office of Mr. Cohen.
“Yes. The FBI came to my home on that same day, with a search warrant for my phone,” he said. “I subsequently received a phone call from Dylan Howard that he had his phone also taken by warrant from the FBI, and he mentioned to me that he also heard that Michael Cohen had his office or apartment at that time.”
Pecker Discusses 2018 Admission
Mr. Pecker said when he received a letter about a federal investigation, he had contacted Mr. Cohen immediately, who said, “Why are you worried? Jeff Sessions is the attorney general and Donalt Trump has him in his pocket.”
“I said, I am very worried,” Mr. Pecker said. “We admitted to a campaign violation.”
Mr. Pecker said AMI made a statement of facts and signed a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The federal attorneys had sentenced Mr. Cohen to prison for violating campaign finance laws. As part of AMI’s agreement, the company admitted it made a $150,000 payment “in concert with a candidate’s campaign, and in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election.”
Mr. Pecker said he entered into an agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as well. The letter was entered into evidence. Mr. Pecker read aloud from his immunity agreement.
Pecker Describes Conversation With McDougal
Mr. Pecker said there was also a meeting between him, Ms. Dougal, Mr. Davidson, and Mr. Howard at a restaurant, to make sure the terms of their agreement were met. Ms. McDougal was not trained for the media roles, and was working with ghostwriters whom Mr. Howard said he had to switch because they weren’t working well together.
Mr. Pecker said he wanted to know she was not going to speak with the press after the Wall Street Journal article. Then he learned she was interviewed by Anderson Cooper. He received a phone call from President Trump the next day.
“He said, I thought we had an agreement with Karen McDougal that she can’t be in any interviews,'” Mr. Pecker said. “Mr. Trump got very angry when he heard that I amended it [the agreement]. He was very upset, couldn’t understand that I did it.”
Pecker Says He Attended White House Dinner
After the lunch break, Mr. Pecker continued his testimony under direct examination.
He said he attended a White House thank you dinner with four business associated, and was taken to the Oval Office. He recalled Jared Kushner being present. President Trump asked about Ms. McDougal again at this event.
Pecker: Trump Asked About McDougal After Election
In January 2017, Mr. Pecker received a call from Rhona Graff, President Trump’s aide, about a meeting at Trump Tower. By then, he was the president-elect.
“I never saw tighter security like that in my lifetime,” Mr. Pecker said.
In the waiting room, President Trump’s bodyguard asked him “how’s our girl,” referring to Ms. McDougal from his earlier inquiry, Mr. Pecker said. “I said she’s cool, very quiet, no issues.”
When Mr. Pecker was shown in, aides were briefing President Trump on the Ft. Lauderdale shooting, he said. President Trump introduced him to the group, then they left and Mr. Pecker said he sat down. President Trump asked about Ms. McDougal.
“I said, she’s writing her articles, she is quiet, things are going fine. He said, ‘I want to thank you for handling the McDougal situation. I want to thank you for the doorman situation,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Pecker clarified he thought the stories would have been very embarrassing for Mr. Trump and for his campaign; he said he assumed it was about the campaign, and that Mr. Trump’s family was not mentioned.
Mr. Pecker said he was invited to President Trump’s inauguration, but his wife didn’t want to attend so he decided not to attend. He said he asked President Trump how they would stay in touch and he said he would give him a cell phone number but “it never transpired, and that’s pretty much how we left that.”
The court took a break.
Pecker Says He Had Argument With Cohen at Trump Tower
Mr. Pecker said he had a meeting with Mr. Cohen at Trump Tower where Mr. Cohen was asking again for the National Enquirer clippings of stories about Mr. Trump, and Mr. Pecker said he was having an executive go through the boxes, which had been moved from Florida to New York.
He told Mr. Cohen there was nothing damaging in them, and that he was not going to let Mr. Cohen go through the boxes himself.
“We were arguing back and forth about that,” Mr. Pecker said.
He said that “around November or December,” Mr. Cohen had told Mr. Pecker he hadn’t been reimbursed for the payment he made to Ms. Clifford. He said it was around the time that Trump Organization paid out year end bonuses, and he hadn’t received his. He asked Mr. Pecker to speak to Mr. Trump for him.
“That Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels out of his own funds, which was the first time I heard of that,” Mr. Pecker said. “I wasn’t involved in the transaction, so I didn’t know how it was paid. I understood that he was complaining that he has not been paid.”
Then Mr. Trump came into the room when they were talking about the National Enquirer boxes. Mr. Pecker said that Mr. Cohen told Mr. Trump he had personally gone through the files and they had nothing to be concerned about.
“And I asked Mr. Trump, can I walk back to the office with you, I want to talk to you about a few things,” Mr. Pecker said. He brought up Mr. Cohen’s request about his year-end bonus.
Mr. Pecker talked up Mr. Cohen, and said the bonus was very important to him.
“Mr. Trump said, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Michael Cohen has multiple apartments in my building, he owns 50 taxi medallions, he said, don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it,” Mr. Pecker said.
Pecker Says Trump Was Upset When McDougal Story Came Out
Toward the end of October 2016, Mr. Pecker said he also received an inquiry from Mr. Trump’s bodyguard who overheard his boss saying Karen McDougal was speaking with ABC News.
Mr. Pecker said he checked with Mr. Howard, who checked with his source, Keith Davidson, attorney to Ms. McDougal, and they said this was not true. He passed this assurance on.
Then he received a number of calls from the Wall Street Journal, which “had a series of questions about Karen McDougal’s agreement that American media purchased her story on her relationship with Donald Trump and they also questioned my relationship with Donald Trump.”
The Wall Street Journal published an article on this on Nov. 4, 2016. Mr. Pecker received a text the next day that Mr. Trump wanted to speak with him.
“It was a Saturday, I was at home, Donald Trump was very upset, saying how could this happen, I thought you had this under control, either you or one of your people have leaked a story,” Mr. Pecker said.
He said there was “no way on earth I would leak a story,” and that they had not given it to the Wall Street Journal. The only other person who had this information would be Karen McDougal, Mr. Pecker said, so she or her staff must have gave the story to the newspaper.
“I don’t believe that Donald Trump believed me over the phone. he was very agitated that this could happen, and our call ended very abruptly. He didn’t say goodbye,” Mr. Pecker said. “I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself, and I wanted also to protect Donald Trump.”
He couldn’t get in touch with Ms. McDougal immediately. Her attorney Mr. Davidson came back with a promise that she was going to comply with the confidentiality agreement and wasn’t taking any calls.
Mr. Pecker then got a call from a different attorney representing Ms. McDougal who wanted the confidentiality agreement amended so she could speak to the press, saying she was being “bombarded” with calls.
Mr. Pecker told Mr. Cohen, who was very upset. Mr. Pecker did amend the agreement to allow Ms. McDougal to speak to the press.
“I felt that the Wall Street Journal article already set the stage, and tone, of what the story is, and I wanted to try to keep some control around the story,” he said. Mr. Pecker wanted a press representative for Ms. McDougal to speak on her behalf and deal with all the calls she was getting.
Pecker Details Cohen’s Purchase of Story
In subsequent conversations, Mr. Cohen asked Mr. Pecker to purchase the story a number of times. Mr. Pecker refused each time, telling him he would not be involved with a porn star and was not paying any more monies after the two other stories.
He said Mr. Cohen was upset, and told him that “the boss would be furious” at Mr. Pecker.
Mr. Pecker said he found out later that Mr. Cohen had continued discussing with Mr. Howard about purchasing the story, and he was not pleased, because he told Mr. Howard to stay out of it.
Toward the end of October, Mr. Howard told Mr. Pecker that Mr. Cohen had made a deal with Keith Davidson for $120,000, and he was supposed to wire that money but failed to do so twice.
Mr. Howard was upset that Mr. Cohen was now making him look bad with two of his top sources, Mr. Pecker said, and asked that Mr. Pecker get Mr. Cohen on the phone.
“And Dylan Howard was very aggressive with Michael Cohen on the phone for not paying, and Michael Cohen says that I should pay, and I say I am not paying for the story, I did not want to be involved from the beginning,” Mr. Pecker said. He suggested Mr. Cohen be the one to take the story off the market.
He said the call was done through Signal, as Mr. Cohen requested all their conversations be done through the app because they would then be encypted.
Pecker Testifies About Stormy Daniels
Mr. Pecker said he had never communicated with Stephanie Clifford, better known by her adult film stage name Stormy Daniels.
He said he was having dinner with his wife when he received an urgent call from Mr. Howard, who said two of his best sources, Mr. Davidson and an agent for celebrities, had come to him about Ms. Clifford wanting to sell a story about a sexual relationship with Donald Trump.
Mr. Howard said they could acquire the story for $120,000 if they made the decision “right now.”
“It was the first week of October. This would have been after the Access Hollywood tape came out,” Mr. Pecker said. He read the text Mr. Howard sent to him aloud.
Mr. Pecker said he had then spoke with Mr. Howard by phone and said they can’t pay her $120,000. He told Mr. Howard he didn’t want National Enquirer to be “associated with a porn star.”
“I said our largest retailer’s Walmart, this would be very bad for the magazine and I don’t want any affiliation at all,” Mr. Pecker said. He added that they’d already paid the $30,000 and $150,000 for two stories “and I am not a bank and we’re not paying out any further disbursements or monies.”
Mr. Howard said maybe “they,” meaning Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump, needed to handle it, and offered to give Mr. Cohen a call.
Mr. Pecker said he did think the story was damaging and should come off the market, “and if anyone was going to buy it I thought that Michael Cohen and Donald Trump should buy it.”
Pecker Testimony Likely to Continue Through the Week
The judge asked if Mr. Pecker’s testimony would conclude today. Both the prosecution and defense said no, there is a long way to go.
Mr. Pecker continued his testimony by describing the infamous Access Hollywood tape.
“It was very embarrassing, very damaging to the campaign,” Mr. Pecker said. He added that Mr. Cohen told him as much and said that “everybody was concerned about what impact it would have.”
The tape had been reported on Radar online, which was a publication American Media had acquired. Mr. Pecker said that had been posted without his knowledge, and Mr. Cohen called saying Mr. Trump was very upset.
Mr. Pecker called Mr. Howard, and learned this article about Mr. Trump was posted prior to the acquisition. They removed the article and notified Mr. Cohen.
Prosecutors showed an email of that exchange. Mr. Pecker was copied on an email from Mr. Howard to Mr. Cohen and Hope Hicks, who was doing communications for the Trump Campaign. He said that he had never known Mr. Trump to communicate with him by email, and usually go by office phone.
Judge Excludes New Text From Evidence For Now
Prosecutors sought to admit several texts into evidence arguing that statements of future intent are an exception to the hearsay rule. They included texts by Mr. Howard to a relative saying “at least if he wins I’ll be pardoned for electoral fraud.”
Mr. Bove argued this was the first time the government was making these arguments and that the texts contain “very substantial factual assertions” that they objected to.
Justice Merchan said he was excluding the texts for the time being but would read over the cases the government cited. He said that even though the texts came from an American Media phone, they were not business records but a private conversation between relatives that the defense would not be able to cross examine.
Attorneys Argue Over Admissible Evidence
Court resumed with attorneys conferring with the judge over portions of an exhibit prosecutors seek to admit into evidence. The defense requested some redactions, and argued there was no foundation to name Barry Levine of American Media as a member of a conspirator. Prosecutors said they wanted to admit the email as evidence as Mr. Howard pursued negotiations as part of his job responsibility, not for truth of the content.
“We have more than established prima facie conspiracy to prevent election by unlawful means,” Mr. Steinglass argued. “We’ve elicited sufficient testimony to conclude prima facie that Dylan Howard is a member of the conspiracy.”
Justice Merchan said he agreed Mr. Howard was a co-conspirator and asked how difficult it would be to redact portions of it. Mr. Steinglass argued they believed it was admissible for context.
Defense attorney Emil Bove pushed back. “We came to agreement that the details regarding Sajudin and McDougal would be limited and this to us is the opposite of that,” he said.
Pecker Says He Called Deal Off
Mr. Pecker said even though the contract was signed they never executed it.
He called Mr. Cohen to say he wasn’t going forward with it, the deal was off, and that “it’s a bad idea and I want you to rip up the agreement.”
Mr. Cohen was “very, very angry,” Mr. Pecker said. “very upset, screaming, basically, at me.”
Mr. Pecker said he didn’t go forward with the deal and was never reimbursed for the deal.
The court took a break.
Pecker Says He Didn’t Want News of a Trump Payment Leaked
Mr. Pecker said his publications sometimes had big disbursements for flying a celebrity out for an interview or things like that, and he had a consultant, a former longtime employee, he worked with on these. Mr. Pecker said he had had “some pretty difficult experiences” such as the payroll being leaked and top executive salaries being published on the front page of the Palm Beach Post.
“So I called David and said, I don’t want a check from the Trump Organization going through American Media, so I’d like you to reach out to Michael Cohen whereby you can bill him for $125,000 and reimburse American Media,” Mr. Pecker said. That invoice was submitted into evidence.
“Jurors, this document has been accepted into evidence, not for the truth of what it says, evidence that this invoice was created,” Justice Merchan said.
Michael Cohen had billed as Resolution Consultants LLC.
“When I spoke to Michael Cohen he said he was creating a company to receive the lifetime rights and that would … pay $125,000,” Mr. Pecker said. “I assumed he was being reimbursed, Michael Cohen was being reimbursed, by the Trump Organization or Donald Trump.”
Pecker Says McDougal Deal Hinged on Reimbursement
Mr. Pecker affirmed that the purpose of purchasing the story was to keep it from influencing the election when prosecutors asked, leading to a sidebar with the judge.
Attorney Joshua Steinglass rephrased the question, asking whether Mr. Pecker was aware that expenditures aimed at influencing an election were unlawful.
“Yes,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Steinglass asked why American Media made the purchase.
Mr. Pecker said it was so the story would not be published by any other organization.
“We didn’t want the story to embarrass Mr. Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign,” he answered, adding that he was referring to Mr. Cohen and himself.
He said he would not have entered into the agreement without the promise of reimbursement.
Mr. Pecker said he pressed Mr. Cohen about reimbursement, which would have balanced his books, and had a number of conversations about why it was important.
Then in September 2016, about a month later, Mr. Cohen approached Mr. Pecker with a deal to have Mr. Trump acquire the lifetime rights to Ms. McDougal’s story from him. Mr. Cohen also said that Mr. Trump wanted all of the content National Enquirer had developed and retained on Mr. Trump, which Mr. Pecker said was in all these old files and boxes in Florida.
“He insisted that he wanted those boxes,” Mr. Pecker said. “Michael Cohen called me constantly in the month of September to review and send those boxes to his office.”
Mr. Pecker said he also told Mr. Cohen that he valued the expenses of Ms. McDougal writing columns at $25,000, and would sell the lifetime rights to Mr. Trump for $125,000. Both parties wanted it done by the end of September.
Schwarzenegger Deal Fallout Influenced McDougal Contract
“It was a difficult situation and it gave me sensitivity about buying any stories in the future. So that’s how I became sensitive about this topic,” Mr. Pecker said.
So when he was preparing to do a deal with Ms. McDougal, Mr. Pecker said he consulted with a campaign attorney to make sure the contract was “bulletproof.”
It was a two year agreement with columns in several of Mr. Pecker’s publications, a ghostwriter, and approval over any photos used of her, and life rights to her story about Donald Trump.
Mr. Pecker said he was careful to include in the contract all the details about the writers, freelancers, and other people he would have to pay involved in the covers and columns and things Ms. McDougal was getting out of the contract to substantiate the $150,000 figure. Then they sent the money to an escrow account set up by Ms. McDougal’s attorney Keith Davidson.
He said he believed Mr. Trump was aware of the agreement.
Pecker Said He Had Similar Deal With Arnold Schwarzenegger
Mr. Pecker said between 2002 and 2003, he acquired a story for Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was running for governor of California.
Joel Weider’s magazines Muscle and Flex were up for sale and Mr. Pecker was acquiring them. Mr. Weider had a decades-long relationship with Mr. Schwarzenegger and said before they finalized the transaction the two of them had to meet.
Mr. Schwarzenegger told Mr. Pecker that he had some 70 or 80 lawsuits against his tabloids the Globe and National Enquirer, because they always ran negative stories about him.
Mr. Pecker said Mr. Schwarzenegger then told him because he was running for governor he wanted editor-at-large titles to both these publications and for Mr. Pecker to not run any more negative stories about him.
“So I agreed, and shortly after he announced on the Jay Leno Show that he was running for governor, a number of women called up the National Enquirer about stories that they have to sell on different relationships or contacts and sexual harassment that they felt that Arnold Schwarzenegger did,” Mr. pecker said.
“And the agreement that I had with Arnold is that I would call him and advise him of any stories that were out there, and I ended up acquiring or buying them for a period of time,” Mr. Pecker said.
Then after Mr. Schwarzenegger became governor, there was a story Mr. Pecker acquired and didn’t publish that was then also brought to the LA Times.
“It was very embarrassing,” Mr. Pecker said. “Most of the press approached Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was governor about the story, and his comment was ‘ask my friend David Pecker.’ So it was very embarrassing to me and the company, and at the time there was an investigation by the state with respect to Arnold being editor-at-large of these two titles. he had to resign.”
“It was a difficult situation and it gave me sensitivity about buying any stories in the future. So that’s how I became sensitive about this topic,” Mr. Pecker said.
So when he was preparing to do a deal with Ms. McDougal, Mr. Pecker said he consulted with a campaign attorney to make sure the contract was “bulletproof.”
It was a two year agreement with columns in several of Mr. Pecker’s publications, a ghostwriter, and approval over any photos used of her, and life rights to her story about Donald Trump.
Mr. Pecker said he was careful to include in the contract all the details about the writers, freelancers, and other people he would have to pay involved in the covers and columns and things Ms. McDougal was getting out of the contract to substantiate the $150,000 figure. Then they sent the money to an escrow account set up by Ms. McDougal’s attorney Keith Davidson.
He said he believed Mr. Trump was aware of the agreement.
Pecker Says Payment Dispute Over McDougal Deal
Mr. Howard returned with terms: Ms. McDougal had agreed to: $150,000 for lifetime rights to the story, Mr. Pecker said. The model wanted to “restart her career;” she wanted to write for celebrity magazines and get on health and fitness covers, and launch a clothing line and beauty product company, and be an anchor for red carpet events.
They spoke for a long time, and “Michael was very agitated, why is this taking so long, why didn’t you buy the story yet, why didn’t you finish the agreement,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Pecker asked again who should pay the $150,000, and Mr. Cohen said Mr. Pecker should. Mr. Pecker reminded him he had just paid $30,000 for the Dino Sajudin story. He said he didn’t have a problem with letting her write for his magazines or be on covers, but wanted reimbursement for the $150,000.
Mr. Cohen repeated that he shouldn’t worry about it, “I’m your friend, the boss will take care of it,” Mr. Pecker said.
Pecker Details Trump Involvement in McDougal Deal
Mr. Pecker said in the third week of June 2016, he was making a presentation at his investor’s meeting when he got a call from Donald Trump, who said he had been told by Mr. Cohen that a Mexican group was going to buy the story for $8 million. Mr. Pecker said he absolutely did not believe that.
“He said, what do you think I should do? I said, you should buy the story and take it off the market,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Trump had said Ms. McDougal was “a nice girl,” and so Mr. Pecker believed the story was true, he said.
“I believed the story was true. I think it would have been very embarrassing for himself and also to his campaign,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Trump told him he didn’t buy stories because they always got out, and he would speak with Mr. Cohen and call him back.
Mr. Cohen called Mr. Pecker “that day or the next day,” and advised Mr. Pecker to buy the story. Mr. Pecker said he would have Mr. Howard negotiate the deal.
“Then I said, ‘who’s going to pay for it?’ So he said to me, ‘don’t worry, I’m your friend, the boss will take care of it,’” Mr. Pecker said. His understanding was that he would “either be reimbursed by the Trump Organization or by Donald Trump.”
Mr. Pecker added that over the years he worked with Mr. Cohen, “I know he didn’t have any authorization to spend or disburse any funds from the Trump Organization.”
“Every time we even went out for lunch, I always paid,” Mr. Pecker said.
Pecker Returns to Witness Stand
The judge did not issue a ruling on the new violation allegations.
Mr. Pecker continued his testimony about the deal with Karen McDougal, former Playboy model who alleged a year-long affair with Donald Trump.
Mr. Pecker said his chief content officer Dylan Howard believed the story could be true, but that Ms. McDougal had no corroborating evidence like phone messages, photos, or expense reports. Mr. Howard offered $10,000 to buy the story and was refused.
During these negotiations, “Michael Cohen was constantly calling me,” Mr. Pecker said. He set up a three-way call between himself, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Howard.
Mr. Howard mentioned ABC was interested in acquiring a story, and a Mexican group had made an offer of $1 million, and neither Mr. Cohen nor Mr. Pecker believed that offer was real, but thought the ABC offer was interesting because it included a slot on Dancing With the Stars.
“I knew from my experience that ABC doesn’t buy stories,” Mr. Pecker said.
He added that Ms. McDougal “said she wanted to be the next Monica Lewinsky.”
Mr. Howard said she talked about being a fitness model and they thought she would be more interested in having a magazine buy her story.
“I thought we would have to buy that story, I believed exactly what Dylan said, he knows this marketplace,” Mr. Pecker said. Ms. McDougal’s attorney Keith Davidson was one of Mr. Howard’s major sources.
Prosecutors Accuse Trump of Witness Intimidation
The parties conferred with the judge before the jurors were brought in.
The defense said they’d come to an agreement with the government on evidence that had been objected to, but prosecutors said they had new evidence to cite of President Trump giving remarks outside the courtroom, in which he referred to payments to Michael Cohen as legal expenses.
He also gave a news interview where he said the judge was “rushing the trial like crazy” and said the jury pool was “95 percent Democrat.”
Prosecutors argued these were violations of the gag order, and statements about Mr. Cohen having “no credibility whatsoever” were examples of “witness intimidation.”
President Trump had also commented on David Pecker, the first witness and publisher of the National Enquirer, saying “Dave has been a very nice, a nice guy.”
Prosecutors said this was a warning to Mr. Pecker, in effect saying “be nice, I have a platform.”
Trump: Presidential Immunity Arguments ‘Very Important’
“In the meantime I’m at this trial, my constitutional rights have been taken from me,” President Trump said.
“I think the Supreme Court has a very important argument before it today. I would have loved to have been there but the schedule would not allow for it,” he said. “I should be there, but he wouldn’t allow it. I think he puts himself above the Supreme Court, which is unfortunate.”
He said presidential immunity needed to be preserved.
“This has nothing to do with me. This has to do with a president, in the future, 100 years from now,” he said. “If you don’t have immunity you’re not going to do anything, you’re going to become a ceremonial president. You’re just going to be doing nothing. You’re not going to be taking the risks both good and bad. You’re going to make some decisions that are going to save the county. You’re going to make some decisions that are unfortunate. But you’re not going to do anything if you don’t have immunity.”
“Because otherwise you’re going to be prosecuted after you leave office for going into an area, going into a country, and doing lots of things,” he said. “And we don’t want a ceremonial president.”
“We have to have a real president, and assuming you have the right person that can make a big difference. You saw that for four years when I was president. We were respected all over the world, we had the best economy we’ve ever had, everything was good, we had no wars, we defeated ISIS,” he said. “We also had the single best border in the history of our country.”
He said now it was “a joke.”
Trump Blasts Bidenomics
President Trump commented on the economy before heading into the courtroom, referring to the news on the GDP and rising prices.
“This is Bidenomics … and it’s catching up before he leaves office,” he said. He added that other countries were losing respect for the United States and if the dollar loses its place as the standard “that’ll be like losing the biggest war we’ve ever lost, and it’s a shame but it’s all the way down to 1.6 and nobody thought that would be possible.”
President Trump said he met with construction workers that morning, unionized and not, and they “showed great support.” He announced rallies in New York to honor the police and fire officers, and teachers.
What to Know
Former President Donald Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying 34 business records in a scheme to suppress negative news stories during the 2016 election cycle.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office kicked things off last week with accusations that President Trump violated his gag order at least 10 times in social media posts. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan heard arguments on the allegations on April 23, and said he would reserve his decision.
David Pecker, former head of American Media Inc. and publisher of the National Enquirer, was the first to testify this week. His direct examination by prosecutors will continue.
From The Epoch Times