The criminal trial against former President Donald Trump over alleged hush-money payments continued on Monday, where his longtime friend and former media ally David Pecker took the witness stand for prosecutors.
As the ex-president and CEO of American Media Inc. (AMI), Pecker is expected to deliver testimony central to the case against Trump for his alleged role in a scheme to bury negative stories ahead of the 2016 election.
David Pecker was granted immunity back in 2018 by federal authorities investigating the $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The prosecutors in this case aim to show Pecker collaborated with Trump’s team in numerous so-called “catch-and-kill” operations to purchase but suppress damaging claims about the then-candidate.
At the center of the Manhattan district attorney’s case is the allegation that Trump falsified business records to conceal reimbursements for the Daniels payout, which was facilitated by his former fixer Michael Cohen to prevent claims of a past sexual encounter from being revealed before the election. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
Experts say that David Pecker’s insider view as the former head of the National Enquirer tabloid could validate prosecutors’ claims of a wider conspiracy.
“By entering into this catch-and-kill agreement, he was able to prevent publication not just by the National Enquirer, but by anyone, of information that could have been important to the American people before they voted,” said Syracuse University’s Joel Kaplan.
Pecker previously acknowledged in a 2018 non-prosecution deal that AMI paid model Karen McDougal $150,000 – “substantially more than AMI would typically agree” – for her story alleging an affair with Trump, acting after Cohen assured the company would be reimbursed. Trump also denies the encounters occurred.
As the first witness, David Pecker’s account could establish the alleged hush-money effort as a tangible scheme involving multiple actors rather than isolated incidents.
“If they can show that this was part of a broader scheme, it wasn’t something that happened once, I think that that paints a picture for the jury that this was a coordinated planning conspiracy,” said American University’s Chris Edelson.
While Trump maintains that he simply trusted Pecker to manage unflattering stories responsibly, prosecutors will use the latter’s evidence to argue the actions were criminal.
