NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s defense team in its Shh, money matter sought Friday to undermine the testimony of the prosecution’s main witness and his account that a tabloid’s practice of helping bury embarrassing stories about Trump was part of a plan to help the 2016 Republican campaign.
Returning to the witness stand for a fourth day, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker was questioned about his memory and past statements as the defense attempted to poke holes in testimony potentially crucial to prosecutors in the first criminal trial of a former US president.
Pecker’s testimony provided jurors with a startling insight into the supermarket tabloid’s “catch-and-kill” practice of buying the rights to stories so they never see the light of day. It’s a key part of prosecutors’ theory that Trump sought to illegally influence the 2016 race by suppressing negative stories about his personal life.
Under cross-examination, Trump’s lawyers appeared to lay the groundwork to argue that any dealings Trump had with Pecker were to protect Trump, his reputation and his family — not his campaign.
The defense also sought to show that the tabloid published negative articles about Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, well before the August 2015 meeting between Trump, Pecker and Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Pecker said that was when he agreed to help Trump’s campaign.
Under questioning by Trump’s lawyer, Emil Bove, Pecker acknowledged that there was no mention at that meeting of the term “catch and kill.” There was also no discussion at the meeting about any “financial dimension,” such as the National Enquirer paying people on Trump’s behalf for the rights to their stories, Pecker said.
Bove also confronted Pecker about statements he made to federal prosecutors in 2018 that the defense attorney said were “inconsistent” with the former publisher’s testimony.
Pecker told jurors that Trump thanked him during a 2017 visit to the White House for his help in burying two stories. But according to notes Bove read in court, Pecker told federal authorities that Trump expressed no gratitude to him during the meeting.
“Was this another mistake?” Bove asked Pecker.
Pecker stood by the account he gave in court, adding: “I know what the truth is. »
As Bove concluded his cross-examination Friday afternoon, Pecker told jurors, “I was honest, to the best of my recollection. »
His testimony caps an important week in the criminal cases facing the former president as he fights to win back the White House in November.
At the same time, jurors listened to testimony in Manhattan, before the Supreme Court on Thursday. indicated that he was likely to reject Trump’s sweeping claims that he is immune from prosecution in his 2020 election interference case in Washington. But the high court, with a conservative majority, seemed inclined to limit the periods in which former presidents could be prosecuted – a measure a decision that could benefit Trump by delaying this trial, potentially until after the November election.
In New York, Trump’s first four criminal cases to be tried — the presumptive Republican presidential nominee faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with secret payments intended to prevent negative stories from surfacing in the final days of the 2016 campaign.
Trump denies any wrongdoing. Before entering the courtroom Friday, he told reporters he believed Thursday’s proceedings had gone “very well” for the defense, adding that “the case should be over.”
The charges relate to $130,000 in payments Trump’s company made to Cohen. He paid this amount on behalf of Trump to keep porn actor Stormy Daniels to go public with her claims about a sexual relationship with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied that this meeting ever took place.
Over several days on the witness stand, Pecker described how the tabloid turned rumors into splashy stories that vilified Trump’s opponents and, just as crucially, exploited its connections to suppress sordid stories about Trump.
Trump’s lawyer focused on a 2018 non-prosecution agreement between the federal government and American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer.
The company admitted to engaging in catch-and-kill practice to help Trump’s campaign, and prosecutors agreed not to prosecute the company for paying Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump. He denies the affair.
Trump’s lawyer has repeatedly suggested that Pecker may have felt pressured into accepting a deal in order to finalize a deal to sell his company to newsstand operator Hudson News Group for a proposed amount of 100 million dollars.
“To make this deal, you knew you had to clarify the investigations,” Bove said.
After a pause of several seconds, Pecker answered in the affirmative. But Pecker also said he felt “no pressure” to finalize the non-prosecution agreement to complete the transaction.
Ultimately, the deal did not come to fruition.
___
Richer reported from Washington.
