The first witness called to the stand at the trial of Donald Trump, the former boss of an American tabloid, detailed Tuesday before the New York court how he had put himself at the service of his campaign in 2016 to hunt down scandals, claiming to have discussed this plan in front of him.
Pale pink tie, mustache, receding hairline and slicked back hair, David Pecker, who owned The National Enquirer, one of those magazines with shocking front pages that you find on supermarket shelves, took the jurors behind the scenes of the conquest of the White House by his friend “Donald”. A key testimony for the prosecution, which wants to see the Republican candidate in 2024 convicted for the concealment of the $130,000 payment made to former porn actress Stormy Daniels at the end of the 2016 campaign.
The money was used to buy the silence of the woman who claims to have had a sexual relationship in 2006 with the Republican billionaire – which he denies – when he was already married to Melania Trump. However, David Pecker played a role in this type of bargaining, known as “ catch and kill “.
Silencing the scandals
The two men have known each other since 1989 and like each other, says Mr. Pecker. The 72-year-old press boss bought The National Enquirer in 1999, and his newspaper benefited from the success of the reality TV show The Apprentice and its variation with stars from the world of entertainment.
In 2015, after the announcement of Donald Trump’s candidacy for the White House, “I saw him more frequently, maybe once a month”, he explained to the jurors under the eyes of the former president of the United States, with drawn features and a tired look on Tuesday.
August 2015, David Pecker has a meeting at Trump Tower in New York. Present are Donald Trump, his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his advisor, Hope Hicks. “Donald Trump and Michael Cohen asked me what I could do, what my magazines could do to help his campaign. […] I said I would publish positive articles about Trump and negative articles about his opponents,” says Mr. Pecker. “And I also said that I would be eyes and ears” to monitor the community for any scandal ready to emerge.
“It was clear from my experience that when someone runs for such public office, women call a magazine like Tea National Enquirer to try to sell their stories,” he says again. “All I said was that I would go see Michael Cohen,” he continued. “When I informed him of a negative article, he tried to see if it was true or not. He would then contact the publication concerned to ensure that the article was buried,” assures David Pecker.
How did Donald Trump react to this offer of service? asks the prosecutor. “He was satisfied,” replies David Pecker.
The press man gets to work when he learns that a doorman at Trump Tower is selling “a story about an illegitimate child” of Donald Trump. “I immediately called Michael Cohen. » Subsequently, $30,000 was paid to the doorman to keep quiet. $150,000 was also paid to a former magazine model PlayboyKaren McDougal, for her silence on a relationship with the candidate for the White House.
For the prosecution, these episodes are crucial to show that a ploy existed to cover up any scandal. Donald Trump is being prosecuted for 34 counts of falsifying accounting records from his group of companies, the Trump Organization, to conceal payments to Stormy Daniels. Donald Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, insisted on the legality of the payments: far from a conspiracy, he saw it as the normal functioning of a “democracy”.
Possible outrage?
On Tuesday, the court also examined possible sanctions against Donald Trump for contempt, because of his online attacks against witnesses and jurors. Prosecutors believe that the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election repeatedly violated the magistrate’s ban on attacking them.
They requested that maximum fines be imposed ($1,000 per incriminated publication) and a reminder to Donald Trump that incarceration remains “an option if necessary”. The judge has not made a decision on the matter, although he has already issued a warning to the former American president.
The trial of Donald Trump, like the testimony of David Pecker, continues Thursday, after a one-day break.
