Former National Enquirer editor David Pecker said Thursday he believed he can be compensated by Donald Trump if he bought the story of Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claimed she had an extramarital affair with the previous president had.
Pecker, the primary witness to take the stand in Trump's hush money trial in New York, said he told the then-presidential candidate in a phone call in June 2016 to purchase the story to “take it off the market.”
Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen urged Pecker in a follow-up conversation to take McDougal's story, saying, “Don't worry, I'm your friend, the boss will take care of it,” the statement said.
Pecker, who believed the story was true, said his understanding of it was “that I would get a refund from either the Trump Organization or Donald Trump.”
At the identical time that Pecker is testifying, Trump's lawyers will argue before the Supreme Court that he can’t be prosecuted in a federal election interference case in Washington, D.C. because he was president on the time of the alleged crimes.
The courtroom tussle underscores how Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is burdened by his sprawling legal battles as he campaigns to unseat President Joe Biden.
Trump must appear in Manhattan Supreme Court for his criminal trial. Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump's request to skip at the least a part of Thursday's hearing to attend the Supreme Court's oral arguments.
The trial, which began in earnest with opening statements on Monday, is anticipated to last six weeks.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 presidential election by buying the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with Trump when he was married years earlier.
In his testimony Tuesday, Pecker detailed how he agreed to help Trump's 2016 campaign by warning the then-candidate about damaging information and dealing to cover it from the general public. He described his involvement in a deal that paid a former Trump Tower bouncer $30,000 for his story that Trump had fathered a toddler along with his maid.
Although he concluded the story was unfaithful, Pecker said he bought the exclusive rights to the story to “take it off the market.”
“I made the decision to purchase the story because it could potentially embarrass the campaign and Mr. Trump,” he testified.
Pecker also said that he and his tabloid would “embellish” negative stories about Trump's political rivals after being asked to achieve this by Michael Cohen, Trump's personal lawyer on the time.
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