Donald Trump returned Thursday to his criminal trial in New York, where he had to attend the rest of the colorful and colorful testimony of a former tabloid boss, in his service in 2016 to “kill” possible scandals, including allegations of a relationship with a Playboy model.
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“We bought this story so that it would not be published elsewhere. We didn’t want it to embarrass Mr. Trump or affect his 2016 presidential campaign, summarized this key witness, David Pecker, when he recounted why his group had paid $150,000 to acquire the rights to the testimony of this model, Karen McDougal.
This transaction had been prepared in advance with Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who had reassured the tabloid press boss: “don’t worry, I’m your friend, the boss will take care of all that”, Mr. Pecker reported, specifying that the “boss” was none other than Donald Trump.
David Pecker also assured that he had had a conversation on the subject with the Republican billionaire, then a candidate for the 2016 presidential election.
On the third day of his testimony, the twelve jurors and their six alternates continued for several hours to listen religiously, some taking notes, to this septuagenarian who took them behind the scenes of the conquest of the White House by his friend “Donald” .
Red tie on a pale pink shirt, receding forehead and white hair combed back, David Pecker, 72, also assured that Donald Trump had thanked him, once elected, during a meeting at Trump Tower in New York, asking about Karen McDougal, “how is our daughter?”
On Tuesday, this former boss of the tabloid The National Enquirer had already mentioned a meeting during the campaign, still at Trump Tower, where the plan was developed with Donald Trump and Michael Cohen. This method is known by the American expression “catch and kill”.
Eyes and ears
His testimony is crucial for the prosecution, which wants to obtain the conviction of the Republican candidate for the concealment in “legal fees” of the payment of 130,000 dollars to another woman who claims to have had a sexual relationship with him in 2006, the former porn star Stormy Daniels.
The money was paid just before the November 2016 election that Mr. Trump narrowly won against Hillary Clinton, this time by Michael Cohen directly. Donald Trump denies any relationship with the former actress.
Already sentenced twice since 2023 by New York civil justice to hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, the Republican candidate risks in this case the first criminal conviction of a former President of the United States, a few months away. of the presidential election of November 5 where he dreams of revenge against Joe Biden.
While serving Donald Trump in 2015-2016, David Pecker explained that he would “publish positive articles about Trump and negative articles about his adversaries,” and that he “will be eyes and ears “, to monitor any scandal ready to come out – in particular “women (…) trying to sell their story”, to “bury” it.
Fundamental elements for the prosecution, which wants to prove that there was a stratagem to cover up any scandal.
Donald Trump is being prosecuted for 34 counts of falsifying accounting documents from his real estate group, the Trump Organization, to conceal payments to Stormy Daniels.
Donald Trump’s defense invokes the legality of the payments and denies any “plot” to “rig” the 2016 election.
Finally, the Manhattan court judge must also decide on possible sanctions against Donald Trump for contempt, because of his attacks on the internet and social networks against witnesses and jurors.
The former president could face fines ($1,000 per offending post) and prosecutors asked that he be reminded that incarceration remains “an option if necessary.”
