David Pecker, ex-CEO of American Media Inc., spoke first in Trump’s trial. He helped Trump hide bad news by killing stories. Trump faces charges for lying about paying Stormy Daniels $130,000. She stayed quiet about an alleged affair. Trump says he did nothing wrong.
Who is David Pecker?
David Pecker used to run American Media Inc. (AMI). AMI owns the National Enquirer. Pecker is friends with Trump.
Before the 2016 election, Pecker, Trump, and Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, met. They wanted to stop bad stories about Trump. They bought the rights to these stories so they wouldn’t get published.
The U.S. Department of Justice made a deal with AMI in 2018. Pecker got immunity from prosecution.
Pecker’s Role in the Case
Pecker was a key part of the plan to pay off Stormy Daniels. He told Trump about her plan to talk about an affair. Then, Cohen contacted Daniels and offered her $130,000.
The prosecutor says Trump, Cohen, and Pecker agreed. Pecker and the Enquirer would help Trump’s campaign.
Pecker helped Trump with “catch and kill” schemes. The Enquirer bought stories but didn’t publish them. They paid for the stories and made people sign agreements to keep quiet.
In one case, Pecker and Howard worked with the Trump campaign. They paid McDougal $150,000 to stop her story about her relationship with Trump. This was part of an agreement with the Federal Elections Commission.
AMI, the Enquirer’s parent company, admitted the payment to McDougal was higher than usual. Cohen promised they’d get the money back. Cohen said Trump arranged the deal with Pecker. Trump denies telling Cohen to do anything illegal.
Pecker’s Testimony: Revealing the Truth
Pecker’s testimony could show that Trump hid important info from voters. He stopped Stormy Daniels’ story from coming out.
Prosecutors think this shows a plan to cover things up. They want to prove Trump and Cohen worked together to keep damaging info secret. If they do, it could convince the jury it was a planned conspiracy.
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