Historic lawsuit: The head of a well-known tabloid tells how he hunted scandals to protect Trump

The first witness called in the trial of Donald Trump, the former head of a US tabloid, detailed in court in New York on Tuesday how he joined his campaign in 2016 to hunt scandals, insisting that he had discussed the plan with him, according to AFP.

David Pecker, who owned The National Enquirer, took jurors behind the scenes of his “friend Donald’s” takeover of the White House.

That was key testimony for the prosecution, which wants to see the 2024 Republican nominee convicted of concealing a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels late in the 2016 campaign.

The money was used to buy silence from the actress, who claims she had a sexual relationship with the Republican billionaire in 2006 – which he denies – when he was already married to Melania Trump.

David Pecker played a role in this type of negotiation, known as “catch and kill”.

Meetings

The two men have known each other since 1989 and love each other, says David Pecker.

The 72-year-old newspaper mogul bought The National Enquirer in 1999, and his paper has benefited from the success of reality TV show The Apprentice and its subsequent spin-offs featuring showbiz stars.

In 2015, after Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the White House, “I saw him more often, maybe once a month,” he explained to jurors as the former US president looked on with a weary look on Tuesday .

In August 2015, David Pecker had a meeting at Trump Tower in New York. Donald Trump, his personal lawyer Michael Cohen and his adviser Hope Hicks are present.

“Donald Trump and Michael Cohen asked me what I could do, what my magazines could do to help his campaign (…) I told them I would publish positive articles about Trump and negative articles about his opponents,” he says Pecker.

“And I’ve also said I’ll be eyes and ears,” to monitor the environment for any scandals about to emerge, he adds.

“It was clear in my experience that when someone runs for public office like this, women will turn to a magazine like the National Enquirer to try to sell their story,” he elaborates.

“All I said was I was going to meet with Michael Cohen,” he continued. “When I would inform him about a negative article, he would try to see if it was true or not. He would then go to the publication in question to make sure the article was buried,” says David Pecker.

“Thank you for your cooperation”

How did Donald Trump react to this offer, asked the prosecutor. “He was pleased,” replied David Pecker.

The reporter got down to business when he learned that a Trump Tower porter was “(selling) a story about an illegitimate child” of Donald Trump. “I immediately called Michael Cohen.”

Later, $30,000 was paid to the doorman to keep him quiet. Also, €150,000 was paid to a former Playboy magazine model, Karen McDougal, for her silence about a relationship with the White House candidate.

For the prosecution, these episodes are crucial to prove that there was a ruse to cover up any scandal. Donald Trump is being prosecuted on 34 counts of falsifying the accounting documents of his group of companies, the Trump Organization, to hide payments to Stormy Daniels.

“This is how democracy works”

Donald Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, insisted the payments were legal. Far from a conspiracy, he considered it the normal functioning of a “democracy”.

On Tuesday, the court also considered possible contempt sanctions against Donald Trump over his attacks on witnesses and jurors via the Internet and social media. Prosecutors believe the 2024 Republican presidential candidate has repeatedly violated a court-ordered ban on attacking them.

They called for maximum fines ($1,000 for each incriminating post) and to remind Donald Trump that prison remains “an option if necessary.” The judge has not issued a decision.