Tabloid publisher says he wrangled with Donald Trump over who should buy sex stories
- The National Enquirer’s David Pecker says Trump’s lawyer pressed him to pay Stormy Daniels, but the publisher did not want to be involved with a porn star
- The lawyer, Michael Cohen, has said he gave Daniels US$130,000 to stay silent and was reimbursed US$420,000 by Trump after the election
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified at Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Thursday that he wrangled with Trump and his former lawyer ahead of the 2016 election over who should buy the silence of women who said they had sexual encounters with him.
Pecker’s second day of testimony provided further evidence that he worked as Trump’s “eyes and ears” to suppress stories that could have hurt the businessman-turned-politician’s presidential bid at a time when he was facing multiple accusations of sexual misbehaviour.
New York prosecutors have charged Trump with falsifying business records to cover up that activity, which they say corrupted the election. Trump has pleaded not guilty. Pecker does not face charges.
Pecker, 72, testified that American Media, the Enquirer’s owner, paid to buy the stories of former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007, and a former Trump Tower doorman who said Trump fathered an illegitimate child, which turned out not to be true.
The tabloid did not run either story but ensured that rivals would not publish them either – a practice known as “catch and kill”. Pecker said the newspaper spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to buy stories involving prominent people, including movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger and golfer Tiger Woods.