Trump trial: National Enquirer would ’embellish’ negative stories about Trump’s 2016 rivals, Pecker says

Former
National
Enquirer
publisher
David
Pecker
on
Tuesday
testified
in
the
New
York

hush
money
trial
of

Donald
Trump
that
his
outlet
would “embellish”
negative
stories
about
Trump’s
political
rivals
during
the
2016
election.

Trump’s
then-attorney
Michael
Cohen
would
reach
out
and
request
that
the
tabloid
publish
an
article
about
one
of
Trump’s
opponents,
Pecker
testified
in
Manhattan
Supreme
Court.

Cohen
would
send
an
article
about
one
of
those
opponents,
such
as
Sen.
Ted
Cruz,
R-Texas,
and
the
Enquirer “would
embellish
it
from
there,”
Pecker
testified.

He
added
that
he
understood
Cohen
to
be
reaching
out
on
behalf
of
himself
and
Trump.

Pecker
was
a
key
player
in
the
alleged “catch
and
kill”
scheme
to
influence
the
2016
election
by
paying
hush
money
to
women
who claimed
they
had extramarital
affairs
with
Trump
years
earlier.
Trump
faces
34
counts
of
falsifying
business
records
related
to
a
$130,000
payment
to
one
of
those
women,
porn
star
Stormy
Daniels.

Pecker
is
the
first
witness
to
testify
in
the
historic
trial
of
the
presumptive
Republican
presidential
nominee.
The
trial
is
set
to
last
six
weeks.

Before
Pecker
returned
to
the
witness
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
those
posts
came
during
last
week’s
jury
selection
process.
Most
either
referenced
or
linked
to
articles
referencing
Cohen,
a
key
witness
in
the
trial.

One
of
Trump’s
posts
on

Truth
Social
echoed
a
claim
from
Fox
News
host
Jesse
Watters
that “undercover
Liberal
Activists”
are “lying
to
the
Judge
in
order
to
get
on
the
Trump
Jury.”

The
posts “unquestionably
relate
to
known
witnesses
and
prospective
jurors
in
this
criminal
trial”
in
violation
of
Trump’s
gag
order,
assistant
District
Attorney Chris
Conroy
wrote
in
a
court
filing
Thursday.

During
the
hearing
Tuesday
morning,
Conroy
accused
Trump
of
violating
the
gag
order
again
on
Monday,
when
he
spoke
about
Cohen
outside
the
courtroom.

State
prosecutors
will
submit
a
court
filing
based
on
latest
alleged
violation
later
Tuesday,
similar
to
the
ones
that
triggered
the
contempt
hearing,
Conroy
said.

“His
disobedience
of
the
order
is
willful.
It’s
intentional,”
Conroy
said. “He
knows
what
he’s
not
allowed
to
do
and
he
does
it
anyway.”

Trump’s
attorney
Todd
Blanche
countered, “there
was
absolutely
no
willful
violation
of
the
gag
order.”

Blanche
noted
that
Trump’s
gag
order
does
not
bar
him
from
responding
to
political
attacks.
He
argued
that
Trump’s
posts
were
in
response
to
political
comments
and
were
not
focused
on
witness
testimony.

Trump
is
trying
to
carefully
comply
with
the
gag
order,
Blanche
said.
But
Merchan
appeared
unconvinced.

“Mr.
Blanche,
you’re
losing
all
credibility
with
this
court,”
the
judge
said.

The
prosecutors
want
Merchan
to
hold
Trump
in
contempt
of
court.
If
that
happens,
Merchan
could
technically
impose

punishments
ranging
from
a
small
fine,
up
to
30
days
in
jail.

Conroy
in
the
hearing
said
that
while
the
state
is
not
seeking
to
incarcerate
Trump,
Merchan
should
remind
him
that “incarceration
is
an
option,
should
it
be
necessary.”

The
judge
did
not
rule
during
the
hearing,
which
ended
shortly
before
11
a.m.
ET.

Prosecutor
Joshua
Steinglass
initially
questioned
Pecker
about
his
history
with
Trump,
establishing
their
extensive
business
relationship
prior
to
Trump’s
2015
presidential
campaign
announcement.

Trump’s
former
reality
TV
show “The
Apprentice”
grew
his
national
profile,
helping
to
spur
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.”

Pecker
was
invited
by
Cohen
to
Trump’s
June
2015
campaign
kickoff
at
Trump
Tower,
according
to
an
email
shown
in
court.

Two
months
later,
Pecker
attended
a
meeting
with
Trump,
Cohen
and
former
Trump
aide
Hope
Hicks,
who
asked
the
publisher
what
he
could
do
to
help
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
campaign’s “eyes
and
ears,”
which
meant
that
he
would
alert
Cohen
of
any
negative
information
about
Trump
that
could
come
to
light.

“I
was
the
person
who
thought
that
a
lot
of
women
would
come
out
to
try
to
sell
their
stories
because
Mr.
Trump
was
well
known
as
the
most
eligible
bachelor.
And
dated
the
most
beautiful
women,”
Pecker
said.

“And
it
was
clear
that
based
on
my
past
experience
that
when
someone
was
running
for
public
office
like
this,
it
is
very
common
for
these
women
to
call
up
magazines
like
the
National
Enquirer
to
try
to
sell
their
stories.”

The
arrangement
was
not
put
into
writing,
Pecker
testified. “It
was
just
an
agreement
among
friends.”

Pecker
later
detailed
a
deal
to
pay
$30,000
to
Dino
Sajudin,
a
former
Trump
Tower
doorman
who
was
selling
a
story
that
Trump
had
a
child
with
a
maid
who
worked
at
the
building.

After
Dylan
Howard,
the
National
Enquirer’s
editor
in
chief
at
the
time,
got
a
tip
about
the
story
in
October
2015,
Pecker
testified
that
he “immediately”
called
Cohen.

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
to
have
it “removed
from
the
market.”
Howard
negotiated
the
$30,000
figure,
and
Pecker
told
Cohen
that
the
publisher
would
pay
for
it.

It
was
the
first
instance
of
paying
a
source
to
bury
a
story
about
Trump,
Pecker
testified.

Pecker
and
Howard
would
conclude
the
story
was
untrue.
But “I
made
the
decision
to
buy
the
story
because
of
the
potential
embarrassment
to
the
campaign
and
Mr.
Trump,”
Pecker
testified.

On
Monday,
jurors
heard
opening
statements
from
the
prosecution,
which
alleged
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
had
committed
any
crime.

“It
was
election
fraud,
pure
and
simple,”
prosecutor
Matthew
Colangelo
told
the
jury.

Defense
lawyer
Todd
Blanche
fired
back, “I
have
a
spoiler
alert:
There’s
nothing
wrong
with
trying
to
influence
an
election.
It’s
called
democracy.”

Trump
is
charged
with
falsifying
business
records
to
discreetly
reimburse
Cohen,
who
in
late
2016
paid
Daniels
$130,000
for
her
silence
about
an
alleged
sexual
tryst
with
Trump
years
earlier.

Manhattan
District
Attorney
Alvin
Bragg
accuses
Trump
of
carrying
out
the
hush
money
scheme
to
influence
the
2016
election,
which
he
would
go
on
to
win.