{"id":2230726,"date":"2024-04-26T07:24:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T11:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-four-takeaways-from-peckers-time-on-the-witness-stand\/"},"modified":"2024-04-26T07:28:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T11:28:03","slug":"trump-trial-four-takeaways-from-peckers-time-on-the-witness-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-four-takeaways-from-peckers-time-on-the-witness-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"Insights from Pecker&#8217;s Testimony in Trump Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-trial-four-takeaways-from-peckers-time-on-the-witness-stand%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2230726&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The former CEO of\u2063 a tabloid company, David Pecker, testified for \u2062three \u2064days in Donald Trump&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-big-problem-with-the-stormy-daniels-hush-money-case-against-trump\/\" title=\"The Big Problem With The Stormy Daniels Hush Money Case Against Trump\">hush money case<\/a> \u2063in\u2062 New York. Pecker disclosed involvement in a \u201ccatch-and-kill\u201d scheme with Trump and Michael Cohen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-witness-david-pecker-recounts-frantic-efforts-to-kill-embarrassing-stories\/\" title=\"Trump Trial: Witness David Pecker Describes Rushed Attempts to Suppress 'Embarrassing' Stories\">suppress damaging stories<\/a>. He also revealed \u2062payments made to suppress stories for public \u200cfigures like Karen McDougal and Rahm Emanuel. Pecker&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-markey-proposes-legislation-to-expand-scotus\/\" title=\"Markey suggests bill to increase Supreme Court size.\">testimony shed light<\/a>\u200d on the tabloid industry&#8217;s practices.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The former CEO of a tabloid company testified for three days in former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s hush money case in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-york\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"New York\">New York<\/a>, telling jurors about his work to bury or promote stories about Trump ahead of the 2016 election.<\/p>\n<p>David Pecker, who headed the <em>National Enquirer\u2019s<\/em> parent company, American Media, Inc., was a key component of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg\u2019s case against Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors told jurors at the outset of the trial that Pecker in 2016 was part of a three-man \u201ccatch-and-kill\u201d scheme, along with Trump and Trump\u2019s former attorney Michael Cohen. The scheme, prosecutors said, involved Pecker paying sources through nondisclosure agreements not to go to other outlets with damaging stories about Trump. Pecker would then decline to publish the sources\u2019 story, effectively suppressing negative information about Trump in an election year, the prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutor Michael Colangelo acknowledged during his opening statement this week that outlets have editorial say over what they choose or choose not to publish, but, he argued, Pecker\u2019s activity was \u201chighly unusual.\u201d Defense attorneys have noted that nondisclosure disagreements, and even hush money payments, are not illegal.<\/p>\n<p>Pecker testified that he did indeed seek to help Trump in 2016, but he spoke about how he also used his tabloid prowess to help other public figures as well.<\/p>\n<h2><em>Dancing with the Stars<\/em> offer<\/h2>\n<p>Prosecutors sought to highlight two payments Pecker made on behalf of Trump to kill stories, including a $150,000 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.<\/p>\n<p>McDougal had confided to Pecker\u2019s company that she had a recent sexual encounter with Trump while he was married and that she wanted to go public with it. Pecker said he reached an agreement with her right before the 2016 election involving him paying her for lifetime rights to her story.<\/p>\n<p>Pecker <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DylanByers\/status\/1783570632753414162\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>revealed<\/a> during his testimony that during the negotiations process, ABC was also attempting to persuade McDougal to come to its network with her story. Pecker said ABC offered her a spot on its popular reality show <em>Dancing with the Stars<\/em> as an incentive.<\/p>\n<h2>Pecker paid for a story about former Obama chief of staff<\/h2>\n<p>While prosecutors focused on Pecker\u2019s assistance to Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ky-jury-recommends-life-behind-bars-for-man-convicted-of-2016-triple-murder\/\" title=\"KY jury recommends life in prison for man convicted of 2016 triple murder\">defense attorneys highlighted<\/a> during their cross-examination of Pecker that he also paid to suppress stories for others, suggesting that Pecker\u2019s involvement with Trump was not unique.<\/p>\n<p>Pecker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2024\/04\/25\/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial\/pecker-mentions-rahm-emanuel-00154428\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>testified<\/a> that he paid $20,000 to quash a negative story about Rahm Emanuel, former President Barack Obama\u2019s chief of staff, as Emanuel geared up for a Chicago mayoral run in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>The story related to an alleged affair Emanuel had, and his brother Ari Emanuel, who had worked with Pecker to bury stories about other celebrities, came to Pecker for help with preventing the affair news from coming out, Pecker said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you help suppress that story?\u201d defense attorney Emil Bove asked, per <em>Politico<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Pecker replied.<\/p>\n<h2>Pecker had \u2018catch-and-kill\u2019 deal with Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/h2>\n<p>Pecker testified that in 2003, he reached a \u201ccatch-and-kill\u201d agreement with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger while Pecker was seeking to acquire fitness magazines and while Schwarzenegger was preparing for a gubernatorial run in California. Schwarzenegger won his race and took office in November 2003.<\/p>\n<p>Pecker testified that dozens of women would come to them during that year about their encounters with Schwarzenegger.<\/p>\n<p>Pecker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/live-news\/trump-hush-money-trial-04-25-24\/h_fdce28bfdec99f2f4a2720b445ed743f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told<\/a> defense attorneys he spent \u201chundreds of thousands of dollars\u201d to suppress those stories, according to CNN.<\/p>\n<h2>Pecker considers Trump a friend<\/h2>\n<p>During prosecutors\u2019 questioning, Pecker read a text to the court that he wrote in 2016 to the <em>National Enquirer\u2019s<\/em> editor in chief in which he said Trump would be \u201cfurious\u201d if Pecker did not agree to suppress an affair allegation made by porn star Stormy Daniels.<\/p>\n<p>Cohen ultimately paid Daniels, and Pecker testified that he did not know any details about the payment. The texts signaled the relationship between Trump and Pecker had become tense at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to pay for this story. I\u2019m not going to be involved with a pornstar. \u2026 After paying out the doorman, after paying out McDougal, we\u2019re not paying out any more money,\u201d Pecker wrote, according to the <em>Guardian<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, Pecker testified that he viewed Trump as his \u201cmentor\u201d when asked if he had any ill will toward the former president. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though we haven\u2019t spoken, I still consider him a friend,\u201d Pecker said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the hush money case against Donald Trump, the ex-CEO of a tabloid firm, David Pecker, testified for three days in New York. Pecker disclosed efforts to manipulate news stories about Trump before the 2016 election. His role, as head of the National Enquirer\u2019s parent company, American Media, Inc., was pivotal in the proceedings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2230727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23087778326411-1-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2230726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23087778326411-1-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2230726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2230726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2230726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2230727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2230726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2230726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2230726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}