Defense attorneys begin cross-examination of David Pecker
Donald Trump sits in a Manhattan Criminal Courtroom with members of his legal team for the continuation of his hush money trial in New York City on April 25, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Via Reuters
Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon began the cross-examination of former National Enquirer David Pecker, the first witness to testify in Trump’s New York criminal hush money trial.
The questioning began near the end of the Pecker’s third day on the witness stand in the historic trial, where he has been grilled by Manhattan prosecutors about his participation in “catch and kill” schemes to benefit Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Earlier Thursday, however, Pecker said he refused to pay porn star Stormy Daniels for her story of allegedly having sex with Trump years earlier.
Pecker testified that he declined a request by Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen to kill Daniels’ story by acquiring it for $120,000 and then burying it.
“I am not a bank,” Pecker recalled telling Dylan Howard, the tabloid’s editor in chief at the time.
Pecker noted on the stand that his publishing company had already paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman and $150,000 to ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal to silence negative news about Trump during the 2016 election.
Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen asked Pecker to pay for Daniels’ story as well, but Pecker said he refused. “I am not going to be involved with a porn star,” the former CEO of American Media testified.
Pecker added that Cohen, who ultimately paid Daniels $130,000 with his own money, later complained to him that he had not yet been reimbursed by Trump.
Pecker gave that testimony just feet away from Trump, who is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by buying Daniels’ silence.
Pecker dishes
Those were just a few of the many details Pecker shared about his relationship with Trump and his aides during his third day of testimony in the historic trial.
Pecker testified that he believed Trump would reimburse him if he bought the story from McDougal, who claimed she had an extramarital affair with the former president.
Pecker said he told the then-presidential candidate in a June 2016 phone call that he should buy the story to “take it off the market.” Cohen, in a follow-up conversation, told Pecker to purchase McDougal’s story, saying, “don’t worry, I’m your friend — the boss will take care of it,” according to the ex-CEO’s testimony.
Pecker, who believed the story to be true, said he understood that to mean “that I would be either reimbursed by the Trump Organization or by Donald Trump.”
The former tabloid publisher also testified that the purpose of buying McDougal’s story was to suppress negative news about Trump before the 2016 election.
“We didn’t want the story to embarrass Mr. Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign,” Pecker said.
He testified that American Media was never reimbursed for the $150,000 payment to McDougal.
But Trump, in a…
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