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Former president Donald Trump, left, watches as David Pecker answers questions on the witness stand, far right, from assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass, in Manhattan criminal court, April 23, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Contours of a “mutually beneficial” agreement between a first-time presidential candidate and his publisher friend were detailed during testimony on Tuesday afternoon in a lower Manhattan courtroom.
David Pecker, 72, the onetime CEO of the National Enquirer‘s parent company, American Media Inc., took the stand for the second time in the hush-money trial of former president Donald Trump, 77.
“I have had a great relationship with Mr. Trump over the years,” Pecker testified at the outset, establishing himself as a longtime friend and confidant, who has known the former president since the 1980s, according to a report by Just Security fellow Adam Klasfeld.
After providing a foundation for the witness’ intimate knowledge of the defendant, attention turned to when the two friends allegedly discussed the informal arrangement that would help both the nation’s preeminent supermarket celebrity gossip rag as well as the fledgling campaign of the nation’s most-disliked 2016 presidential candidate.
“It was just an agreement among friends,” Pecker reportedly testified, perhaps not much of a salve for the prosecution’s theory of the case.
And, the witness added, the agreement would also increase newsstand sales because Trump’s campaign — and yellow journalism about Trump’s opponents — was a hot commodity for readers.
To hear the state tell it, the agreement mostly inured to Trump’s benefit: directly by running positive stories about the game show host turned nativist cable news phenom; indirectly by running negative stories about his political rivals; and one-sidedly by way of the so-called “catch and kill” process wherein AMI would pay for exclusive rights to particularly damaging stories and then sit on them.
Pecker, in response to some prodding from Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass, ultimately agreed the story-burying aspect of the agreement was for the campaign’s benefit.
The first caught-and-killed story, Pecker said, was a false claim leveled by a former Trump Tower doorman against the candidate. This story — which alleged Trump had fathered a child with a maid — was bought for $30,000, an atypically high sum, the witness testified.
“I made the decision to buy the story because of the potential embarrassment it would have to the campaign and Mr. Trump,” Pecker testified, according to a report by Courthouse News reporter Erik Uebelacker.
Earlier on, Pecker reportedly discussed an alleged meeting between himself, Trump, and Michael Cohen, 57, at Trump Tower.
During that meeting, Trump allegedly “asked me what can I do and what my magazines can do to help the campaign,” Pecker testified. The witness replied with the three-pronged help AMI would offer — promising to be the campaign’s “eyes and ears” in his words, “because I knew that the Trump Organization has a very small staff.”
The upshot, however, of Pecker’s testimony may be somewhat muddled for the jury of peers culled from across New York County.
“All my conversations were directly with Michael Cohen,” the witness told the court, when asked about the ins-and-outs of the publishing arrangement, including the catch-and-kill dynamic, according to a report by New York Daily News reporter Molly Crane-Newman.
“He always told me that he was not part of the campaign,” Pecker testified at another point, referring to Cohen.
On the other hand, Pecker also described Trump in general terms as “very detail-oriented” and “almost a micromanager,” characterizations the state might seek to latch onto and make hay from in service of their likely argument that Cohen was acting as Trump’s agent.
Still, while crosshatching in broad strokes, Pecker appeared to offer testimony somewhat shy of the state’s overarching narrative.
As his time on the stand drew to a close, the witness was quizzed about his suggestion to quash a story being peddled by former Playboy model Karen McDougal that she had a nearly yearlong relationship with Trump. Pecker said he advised Trump himself to purchase the rights and kill that story.
Trump recoiled from the thought, the witness said.
“Mr. Trump says to me, he says, ‘Look … I don’t buy any stories. Anytime you do anything like this, it always gets out.’”
Trump told Pecker he’d think about it and have Cohen ring him back.
— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) April 23, 2024
“I don’t buy any stories,” Trump allegedly told Pecker, rebuking the suggestion. “Anytime you do anything like this, it always gets out.”
