Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker took the stand again Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York.
Information from Eyewitness News, ABC News and the Associated Press"Do you know someone by the same of Stephanie Clifford?"
In a series of text messages the jury saw, Howard told Pecker, "I know denials were made in the past but this story is true." "Contrary to the defendant's arguments, Ms. Carroll's compensatory damages were not awarded solely for her emotional distress; they were not for garden variety harms; and they were not excessive," Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote.
Lastly, Pecker testified about his repeated efforts to get that repayment -- which he said never happened. "Do you know if anyone else besides Michael Cohen had any knowledge of this contract?" prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked."Was your principal purpose to suppress the story to prevent it from influencing the election?" Steinglass asked."Were you aware that expenditures by corporations made for the purpose of influencing an election made in coordination with or at the request of a candidate or campaign were unlawful?" Steinglass asked.
Trump then asked Pecker what he should do, the ex-publisher said. Pecker testified that he told Trump, "I think you should buy the story" and keep it quiet. "I think that the Supreme Court has a very important argument before it today," he told reporters as he entered the hallway inside a Manhattan courtroom for his hush money trial. "I would have loved to have been there but this judge would not allow me to be there."
The Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether Trump is immune from federal charges for his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The outcome could determine whether Trump faces a federal trial on the four felony counts brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Jurors had to directly pass by Trump at the defense table as they exited just after 2 p.m. but none appeared to look in his direction.
"We have a gag order, which to me is totally unconstitutional. I'm not allowed to talk but people are allowed to talk about me," Trump said. "So, they can talk about me, they can say whatever they want, they can lie. But I'm not allowed to say that. I just have to sit back and look at why a conflicted judge has ordered for me to have a gag order. I don't think anybody's ever seen anything like this.
"Michael was very agitated. It looked like he was getting a lot of pressure to get the answer right away," Pecker said. "He kept on calling, and each time he called he seemed more anxious." "I said I think the story should be purchased and we should buy it," Pecker recalled telling Trump. "Mr. Trump said to me, 'I don't buy stories. Anytime you do anything like this, it always gets out.'"
Pecker testified that he "immediately called Michael Cohen" when his team got wind of those allegations being shopped by the doorman, Dino Sajudin. Cohen told him it was "absolutely not true" -- but Pecker testified he ultimately moved forward with buying the story to the tune of $30,000. Pecker conceded that if the story turned out to be true, it "probably would be the biggest sale" for the paper since the death of Elvis Presley."I would have published it after the election," Pecker said. "That was the conversation I had with Michael Cohen, and that's what we agreed to.""Why are you paying $30,000 for an untrue story?" prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked while displaying the contract Pecker had with Sajudan to the jury.
"He said, 'Who's going to pay for it?' I said, 'I'll pay for it,'" Pecker testified. "Then he said, 'Thank you very much.' He said, 'The boss will be very pleased.'" Pecker described the National Enquirer's "normal" procedure of placing Sajudin under a polygraph test to determine if his tip was legitimate, but prosecutor Joshua Steinglass stopped him before he could reveal the results, which isn't allowed in court.
Trump himself amplified the National Enquirer's absurd allegations about Cruz's father in May 2016, telling Fox News in one interview, "His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's being, you know, shot." "We are not yet seeking an incarceratory penalty," assistant district attorney Chris Conroy said, "But the defendant seems to be angling for that."
In 2022, Trump was held in contempt and fined $110,000 for being slow to respond to a subpoena in the investigation that led to the civil fraud lawsuit.Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's lawyer, peeled back the curtain on the ex-president's Truth Social operation during a hearing on whether he recently violated a gag order prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses in his hush money case.
As Merchan grew increasingly frustrated with Blanche, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass smiled, rolled his eyes and appeared to stifle a laugh. On the opposite side, Trump sat slumped in his chair, scowling. Also Tuesday, prosecutors are expected to tell a judge that Trump should be held in contempt over a series of posts on his Truth Social platform that they say violated an earlier gag order barring him from attacking witnesses in the case. Trump's lawyers deny that he broke the order.
"President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan district attorney's office should not have brought this case," attorney Todd Blanche said.Moments after his criminal trial adjourned for the day, Donald Trump exited the courtroom and told reporters that his payments to Michael Cohen were appropriately labeled as legal expenses.
Prosecutors say he met with Trump and Michael Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015 and agreed to help the campaign identify negative stories about him. Pecker, 72, was the publisher of the National Enquirer but prosecutors said he was "acting as a co-conspirator" in helping buy and bury damaging stories about Trump, including a doorman's false claim that Trump had fathered a love child and a Playboy model's claim of a sexual relationship with Trump, who has denied both allegations.
On Sunday night, Cohen publicly posted online that he had a "mental excitement about this trial" and the testimony he would deliver, Blanche said. Judge Merchan had to interrupt Blanche's opening after multiple objections from prosecutors, then he met the parties at a sidebar conference, after which he struck a line from Blanche's opening.
Trump "had nothing to do" with the invoice, the check being generated or the entry on the ledger, Blanche said. Blanche took particular issue with the prosecution's insinuation that attempting to influence an election connotes illegality.After the 2016 election, Donald Trump invited David Pecker, then publisher of the National Enquirer, to Trump Tower to thank him for his contribution to the campaign, prosecutors said Monday. He also invited the publisher to the inauguration and later to the White House, where a dinner was held to honor Pecker and then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
"This might be the only time it ever happened," Colangelo said. Trump's willingness to part with so much cash showed how important it was to him to keep the hush money scheme under wraps, the prosecutor posited.
The plan was hatched at Trump Tower shortly after the then-presidential candidate had announced his candidacy. During that meeting, prosecutors say that David Pecker, then-publisher of the National Enquirer, agreed to "help the defendant's campaign by working as the eyes and the ears of the campaign."
Colangelo, senior counsel to the district attorney, told jurors that though the payments to Michael Cohen were labeled as legal fees pursuant to a retainer agreement, there was no retainer and there were no legal services. "The defendant falsified those business records because he wanted to conceal his and others' criminal conduct," he said.
The ruling is a mixed bag for Trump, who had sought to entirely block questioning on these previous issues if he takes the stand.Trump arrived at the courthouse shortly before 9 a.m., minutes after castigating the case in capital letters on social media as "election interference" and a "witch hunt." After the election and while he was president, Trump authorized repaying Cohen through twelve $35,000 payments, which the Trump Organization characterized as payments for legal services pursuant to its retainer agreement with Cohen.
While Trump's lawyers recently claimed they do not intend to make an advice-of-counsel defense - arguing Trump was just acting at the direction of his lawyers - they plan to highlight the involvement of lawyers in the scheme to prove Trump lacked the intent to commit crimes.From the start of jury selection to a verdict, Trump's New York trial could run from six-to-eight weeks.
She was replaced as juror 2 with a male who works for an investment bank, has an MBA in finance and disclosed to the court that he read quotes from Trump's "Art of the Deal." He said he normally gets his news from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Google. In his spare time, he said he enjoys hiking and running.
He said he could "absolutely" be fair in the case and would not have any concerns about returning a guilty verdict.Juror 5 was the only potential juror who raised her hand when lawyers asked if they had ever heard of Trump's other criminal cases. "I will be fair and impartial," she said in response to a question about whether Trump's candidacy for the presidency would impact her ability to serve as a fair juror.He currently lives on the Upper East Side and enjoys spending time outdoors and with his children. He gets his news from the New York Times, New York Post, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
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