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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 12:16:14 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Pecker testifies Cohen said Trump 'furious' over refusal to pay Stormy DanielsLots of irony in a text from David Pecker read to the court from former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard. Howard communicated to Michael Cohen that Donald Trump should be paying Stormy Daniels: I spoke to [Cohen], all sorted. Now we move. No fingerprints. I’ll recap to you face to face.Pecker really emphasizing that, at this point, he was refusing to pay off any more people for Trump. -- I’m not going to pay for this story. I’m not going to be involved with a pornstar … After paying out the doorman, after paying out McDougal, we’re not paying out any more money.Cohen was “upset, he said the boss would be furious with me”, Pecker added.
After the Wall Street Journal reported that AMI had paid Karen McDougal to kill her story about an affair with Donald Trump, AMI put out a statement denying it. David Pecker says in court it was false. Explaining why he lied, he says: I wanted to protect my company. I wanted to protect myself. And I wanted also to protect Donald Trump.
David Pecker says that he spoke with Donald Trump on the phone the day after the Wall Street Journal story came out. Trump “was very upset, saying how could this happen, I thought you had this under control. Either you or one of your people have leaked this story,” Pecker says, adding: I said Donald, there’s no way on earth that I would leak this story. We, American Media, had the agreement between only a couple of people.Pecker implies that, at the time, he thought someone from Karen McDougal’s team leaked the story.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 12:17:18 GMT -5
(The Guardian) At the end of 2016, David Pecker and Michael Cohen met at Trump Tower. Pecker says Cohen told him that Cohen still hadn’t been repaid for his payment to Stormy Daniels. Cohen said he also hadn’t yet received his annual bonus and asked Pecker if he would talk to Donald Trump to tell Trump everything Cohen did to earn his bonus.
David Pecker is describing a December 2016 meeting with Donald Trump at Trump Tower in which Trump thanked him for handling the doorman story and Karen McDougal.
In another Trump Tower meeting in January 6, 2017, two weeks before inauguration, Donald Trump asked Pecker, “How’s our girl doing?”, referring to Karen McDougal. David Pecker said that she was fine, she was “quiet”. Trump thanked Pecker for handling McDougal and the doorman, he said. Pecker said: He was thanking me for buying them and for not publishing any of the stories and help me the way I did.Do you know why he thanked you?” Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked. -- He said the stories were very embarrassing.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 12:18:19 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Pecker testifies Trump appeared concerned about campaign, not familyProsecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker whether Donald Trump ever indicated that he was thinking of his family, instead of the campaign, when quashing the stories. “I thought it was for his campaign,” Pecker said. In conversations with Cohen and Trump, his family was never mentioned. -- I made the assumption that his concern was the campaign.Prosecutors are really having Pecker emphasize that Trump was doing this for his campaign, not because of his family. They’re trying to show the jury that Trump was quashing the story as a kind of election interference, not for personal reasons. Pecker was briefly asked why, though he was invited, did he not attend the inauguration. Pecker was somewhat evasive: I asked my wife, she didn’t want to go. I decided not to attend.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:20:46 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:22:16 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump returns to Manhattan courtroomDonald Trump has just returned to the courtroom in Manhattan, New York, for the resumption of his criminal hush-money trial. The afternoon session is expected to begin imminently with more testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, and we’ll bring you developments from the courtroom as they happen. Stick with us … Pecker continues testimonyDavid Pecker is testifying about a 2017 meeting with Donald Trump at the White House. On the way to dinner at the White House, Trump asked Pecker how Karen McDougal was doing and Pecker replied that she was fine and writing her articles. Top Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn seen in the courtroomBoris Epshteyn, Donald Trump’s senior adviser and legal counsel, has been spotted in the courtroom today. Epshteyn is seated in the first row of spectators, my colleague Sam Levine writes. Epshteyn was among a number of Trump allies indicted in Arizona yesterday over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, along with all of the fake electors who acted on Trump’s behalf there to try to keep him in power despite his loss in the state.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:23:52 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Pecker testifies Trump 'very upset' after Karen McDougal's CNN interviewDavid Pecker is describing what happened after Karen McDougal was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN. Donald Trump was angry when he found out Pecker had amended McDougal’s contract to let her speak to the press. -- Mr. Trump got very aggravated when he heard that I amended it and he couldn’t understand why. I said Karen has a two year agreement. She was flooded with requests from the press for interviews. He was very upset, couldn’t understand why I did it.
David Pecker is describing getting a letter from the FEC in 2018 and talking to Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, about it. Pecker said: I said I’m very worried. Michael Cohen said why are you worried? Jeff Sessions is the attorney general and Donald Trump has him in his pocket.
We’re looking at the non-prosecution agreement AMI made with federal prosecutors and the southern district court of New York. Under the agreement, AMI would not be prosecuted for campaign finance contributions in exchange for testimony. This agreement was made in September 2018.
The agreement with the southern district outlined much of AMI’s deal with Karen McDougal, saying that the company paid $150,000 “to ensure that a woman did not publicize damaging allegations about that candidate before the presidential election and thereby influencing the election”. Prosecutors are having David Pecker read parts of the agreement out loud for the court.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:24:58 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Pecker testifies that Trump was his 'mentor'David Pecker says the last time he spoke to Donald Trump was January or February of 2019. He says that he has friends who belong to Mar-a-Lago and Trump will send his regards but Pecker doesn’t respond. Pecker said he thought it would be inappropriate to respond given the investigation. Asked whether he has any ill-will to Trump, Pecker says “on the contrary”. He says Trump has been his “mentor” and says Trump assisted him after AMI’s office received anthrax in the mail in 2001. -- Even though we haven’t spoken, I’m seeing him, I still consider him a friend.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:26:00 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump attorney begins cross-examination of PeckerThe prosecution has completed questioning of David Pecker. Trump lawyer Emil Bove is beginning cross-examination of the witness.
Trump attorney Emil Bove seems to be trying to establish that catch-and-kill was just standard operating procedure for AMI. There were many reasons AMI may not have chosen to publish a story, he asks David Pecker. Pecker agrees.
Under questioning from Trump lawyer Emil Bove, David Pecker says that he ran stories about Trump because “it was good for business”. Pecker testifies that the first time he gave Donald Trump a heads up about a negative story was 1998. It was a story about Marla Maples that Pecker failed to kill. Bove is using this to establish that Pecker and Trump were involved in catch-and-kill-type schemes before the 2016 campaign. Bove says: That’s almost 17 years prior to the meeting you described in August 2015, 17 years of providing Trump with heads up about negative stories.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:27:06 GMT -5
(The Guardian) David Pecker just said he never heard the term “catch-and-kill” before the investigation in this case. Says the first time he heard of it was from a prosecutor. In contrast to the district attorney’s presentation, Emil Bove is letting Pecker talk as little as possible. Many of Bove’s questions simply ask Pecker to confirm something that Bove says. Almost all of Pecker’s answers are “yes” or “correct.” It lets Bove tell the story even though Pecker is the witness.
David Pecker is describing how he helped Rahm Emanuel when Emanuel was running for mayor of Chicago. Ari Emanuel reached out to Pecker about a story about an affair that had allegedly happened after Pecker acquired the rights to the story. Pecker says he spent around $20,000 on the story, and there was no campaign finance violation.
Trump attorney Emil Bove said David Pecker gave two different times for when the first Trump Tower meeting happened with Trump In 2015. Pecker gave a different time during his grand jury testimony last year and his testimony earlier this week. Bove is trying to make it seem like the meeting took place a long time ago, and Pecker’s memory of it is hazy. He said: These things happened a long time ago – even when you’re doing your best, and I’m sure you are – It’s hard to remember what people said almost 10 years ago.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:28:05 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump attorney Emil Bove is asking David Pecker whether he needed documents to refresh himself on his memory of some events that he testified on today. Bove asked: You’re going based on what you said previously.Pecker insisted that he “was consistent in what I said going back to the grand jury testimony”.
David Pecker said he first met Michael Cohen in 2007 and Cohen was introduced as Donald Trump’s personal attorney. This is important because a key element of the case is that the payments for Stormy Daniels were classified as legal expenses even though there was no legal retainer between Trump and Cohen. Pecker also agrees when Trump attorney Emil Bove asks him if he understood Cohen to be someone who was always in it for himself. He says Cohen asked him to promote businesses unrelated to Trump, arrange paparazzi shoots for himself, and promote his daughter’s rock climbing.
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Post by Webster on Apr 25, 2024 15:28:45 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Jury dismissed for the dayJudge Juan Merchan has dismissed the jury. David Pecker will be back on the stand tomorrow with defense lawyers to resume their cross-examination.
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Post by Webster on Apr 26, 2024 12:22:49 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump lawyers to continue cross-examination of David PeckerDavid Pecker is due back on the stand in the hush-money trial of Donald Trump for a third day. Trump’s lawyers will continue to cross-examine Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher and Trump ally, after he said earlier this week that the “catch-and-kill” schemes to buy negative stories about Trump in order to bury them was specifically about helping Trump’s 2016 campaign. He even said he nervous about whether the payment would violate campaign contribution laws. Yesterday, Trump’s attorney Emil Bove grilled Pecker on his recollection of specific dates and meetings. Pecker insisted his testimony was based on his “best recollection of the time”. Prosecutors allege Trump has violated gag order 14 timesBefore David Pecker took the stand on Thursday, prosecutors said that Trump had violated his gag order – which bars him from speaking publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, jurors, court staff and their relatives – four more times over the course of the week. This brings the total violations to 14, prosecutors allege. Prosecutors said Trump had continued to talk about the witnesses, including saying that Pecker had been a “nice guy”. “This is a message to Pecker, be nice. This is a message to others, I have a platform, and I can talk about you,’” the prosecutor Chris Conroy told Judge Juan Merchan. “It’s a message to everyone in this courtroom.” Prosecutors said Merchan should hold Trump in contempt of court and fine him $1,000 for each violation. Merchan has yet to rule on the alleged violations.
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Post by Webster on Apr 26, 2024 12:25:11 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Text messages show dismay at Trump's election from figures in 'catch and kill' schemeTwo key players in Donald Trump’s “catch-and-kill” schemes to prevent publication of negatives stories ahead of the 2016 election expressed dismay that he won that year’s election, according to recently released text messages:
Donald Trump has arrived at the courthouse and, as he usually does, given brief remarks to reporters before heading into the courtroom. It was the usual from the former president – the case is “unconstitutional”, the judge is biased and the courtroom is too cold. He wished his wife, Melania, a happy birthday, and noted that she was in Florida. “‘I’ll be going there this evening after this case finishes up – this horrible, unconstitutional case.” He then went after Judge Juan Merchan, saying he “is highly conflicted, the most highly conflicted judge I have ever seen”. The final target of his opprobrium was the courtroom thermostat. “We have another day of court in a freezing courthouse. It’s very cold in there, for one purpose, I believe. They don’t seem to be able to get the temperature up. It shouldn’t be that complicated.”
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Post by Webster on Apr 26, 2024 12:28:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Donald Trump in court as cross-examination of former tabloid publisher continuesDonald Trump walked into Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom wearing a navy suit. He whispered in his lawyer’s ear and sat down at the defense table. His tie was a lighter shade of blue, and his lips appeared pursed as he walked down the aisle into the well. A group of photographers snapped photos of Trump as he sat at the defense table. Some crouched low, others stretched their hands high. They had but a few moments to capture Trump’s demeanor, which has largely vacillated between a glower and a frown over the course of his criminal trial. Merchan then gaveled the court into session. He is currently going over housekeeping matters with attorneys before the jury is brought in and testimony resumes.
Former American Media Inc (AMI) head David Pecker has taken his seat at the witness stand once again in the hush-money criminal trial of his longtime pal Donald Trump. It’s Pecker’s fourth day testifying. The veteran tabloid honcho has testified that he colluded with Trump and Michael Cohen to keep negative stories about the real estate mogul from surfacing. Pecker told jurors that shortly after Trump announced his candidacy in summer 2015, the three met at Trump Tower. Pecker said he would apprise them if any potentially damaging information had surfaced. Prosecutors contend this agreement was at the heart of a “catch-and-kill” scheme, which Trump used to influence the 2016 election in his favor. Pecker said on the stand that AMI, which publishes the National Enquirer, paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock. AMI also footed the bill for a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2006. Pecker also said he told Cohen that he needed to buy adult actress Stormy Daniels’ story about a sexual liaison with Trump. This $130,000 payment to Daniels is at the core of the prosecution’s case. They contend that Trump listed repayment to Cohen as legal expenses in his business records. The 34 counts of falsifying business records involve his alleged misrepresentation of these payments to Cohen.
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Post by Webster on Apr 26, 2024 12:29:44 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump defense attorney Emil Bove has resumed his cross-examination of Pecker. “We were talking about Hope Hicks, right?” Bove asked, referring to the former campaign and White House aide to Trump. Pecker answered in the affirmative. Bove is going over Pecker’s prior direct testimony about Hicks. Pecker said that he knew Hicks prior to August 2015; she’d worked at Hiltzik Strategies and did work for Star magazine. Pecker also said that Hicks was in and out of the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting in which they allegedly planned to catch and kill damaging information to protect the then candidate in the 2016 election. “It’s not as if you’re saying that she participated in the meeting, correct?” Bove pressed. Pecker again answered yes. And he did not recall Hicks speaking during the meeting? Correct, Pecker said.
Bove’s line of questioning is probing whether Pecker determined content because of a desire to help Trump – such as damaging articles about his opponents – or because it was beneficial to him directly, and asking about just how much work he actually put into these efforts. -“Let’s talk a little about what was said during the August 2015 meeting – you said on your direct that there was discussion of Bill and Hillary Clinton, correct?” -“Yes,” said Pecker, who testified that the Enquirer ran negative stories about the Clintons. --Bove pressed: were these negative articles running before the meeting? -“That’s correct,” Pecker said. -“And that’s because you’d made a business decision that it was good for the National Enquirer to run those stories, correct?” Bove asked. -“Yes,” Pecker replied. -“And so before the August 2015 meeting, you had decided that it made sense for the business of AMI to run articles about Bill and Hillary Clinton?” -“Yes,” Pecker said. -“And those articles were negative?” -“Yes.” -“Was running those beneficial for AMI?” -Pecker again: yes. -“There wasn’t much new content in those stories, was there?” Bove asked. -“I would have to read those stories to answer that question.”
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