A newspaper boss was Donald Trump’s “eyes and ears” and killed unfavorable articles about him in the run-up to the 2016 election, a court has heard.
Asset made history as the first former US president to face a criminal trial.
He is accused of paying money to porn star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to cover up their alleged affair and falsifying business records to do so.
David Pecker, the former boss of publisher AMI, took the stand as the trial’s first witness, as the prosecution accused Trump, Mr. Pecker and Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, of hatched a “catch and kill” plan to bury unfavorable media coverage during the trial. the 2016 presidential campaign.
Manhattan Criminal Court also heard Mr. Pecker, who signed a “non-prosecution” agreement with prosecutors after AMI admitted to making secret payments, describe his role as “eyes and ears.” of Trump.
Mr. Pecker said he would report the stories to Mr. Cohen, who would verify whether they were true or not. This agreement was never put in writing but Mr. Pecker disclosed it to Dylan Howard, editor of the National Enquirer, one of his publications.
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Mr. Pecker told the court about a meeting he attended in August 2015 with Trump, Mr. Cohen and Hope Hicks, the former president’s communications director.
‘I will be the eyes and ears’
He said: “In that meeting with Donald Trump, they asked me what I could do to help the campaign.
“I said what I would do is I would post positive articles about Mr. Trump, and I would post negative articles about his opponents.
“I said I would be the eyes and ears too.”
In particular, Mr. Pecker said he would inform Cohen if he heard any negative stories regarding Trump and alleged relationships with women “because Mr. Trump was well known as the most eligible bachelor and dated the most beautiful women”.
He added: “It was clear from my past experience that when someone is running for public office like this, it’s very common for these women to call magazines like the National Enquirer to try to sell their stories.”
The court heard of one example in which Mr Pecker paid $30,000 (£24,000) to buy a story about Trump fathering an illegitimate baby with a maid.
Mr Pecker said: “I immediately called Michael Cohen and told him exactly what I had been told.
“I gave the name of the penthouse housekeeper and asked her to check it with Trump Organization payroll first.”
Redeem the negative press
Mr. Pecker bought the story but said investigators found the story false and that Cohen told him it was “absolutely not true.”
He added: “I made the decision to buy the story because it could have been embarrassing to the campaign and to Mr. Trump.”
Today’s proceedings hung over allegations that Trump violated an order of silence in social media posts and on his campaign website.
The silence order restricted Trump’s public speech about jurors, potential witnesses and some others involved in the case.
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Prosecutors asked the judge to fine Trump $10,000 (£8,000) for ten online posts they said violated the order, but the judge had yet to make a decision at the time. end of the day.
Political opponents targeted
However, as well as protecting Trump’s image, the court heard Mr Pecker allegedly targeted his political opponents.
He said: “I would tell a story about Hillary Clinton being the enabler of a womanizer.”
The prosecution asked, “Do you think this helped the Trump campaign?” »
Mr Pecker told the court this was mutually beneficial because it led to newspaper sales and benefited the Trump campaign.
The court was told Mr Pecker’s publisher would also publish articles about Trump’s Republican opponents “based on the success of certain candidates”.
He added: “I would get a call from Michael Cohen, and he would direct me and tell Dylan Howard which candidate and which direction we should go.”
National Enquirer Headlines
Some headlines published by the Enquirer include:
• Clumsy surgeon Ben Carson left a sponge in a patient’s brain!
• Ted Cruz humiliated by a porn star
• Boozin’ Ted Cruz plots defeat
• Shocking claims: Pervert Ted Cruz caught cheating – with 5 secret mistresses
• Anonymous threat! Hackers threaten Ted Cruz over alleged prostitution
• Donald Trump blasts Ted Cruz’s father for photo with JFK Assassin
During today’s proceedings, it also emerged that Mr Pecker was one of the first people to encourage Trump to run for president.
In early 2015, Mr. Pecker says he told Trump that 80 percent of National Enquirer readers wanted him to run for president.
He received an invitation to Trump’s candidacy announcement, made in June 2015, which the court heard read: “No one deserves to be there more than you.”