The fourth day of testimony in the New York prosecution of former US President Donald Trump has concluded, with former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker facing hours of cross-examination by Trump's legal team.
Pecker answered further questions on Friday about what he testified was a “catch and kill” plan to suppress damaging information about Trump ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
The former president has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business documents in connection with payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for 2024, is accused of mislabeling compensation paid to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence over the alleged affair. Trump has denied that the affair took place.
But prosecutors said the former president's alleged wrongdoings were part of a larger criminal scheme to sway the 2016 vote, which Trump won over Hillary Clinton.
Friday's hearing began with Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, continuing to cross-examine Pecker, one of the prosecution's main witnesses. Two other witnesses also took the stand.
Here are six things from the day in court.
Pecker grilled on the editorial process, a meeting in 2015
Bove, Trump's lawyer, asked the former National Enquirer publisher on Friday about the 2015 meeting, about which he had previously testified.
Pecker said earlier that there was a discussion at that meeting about publishing articles about Bill and Hillary Clinton and Trump's opponents in the Republican presidential primary.
Pecker said the moves were good for the tabloid's business. He added that the Enquirer ran negative stories about the Clintons before it began coordinating with the Trump campaign because those stories worked well.
Bove also sought to show that much of the Enquirer's negative coverage of Trump's political opponents — which prosecutors argued was evidence of their connections to one another — merely summarized reports from other sources.
Pecker said the recycling information from other stores was cost-effective and made business sense.
Later, Bove also said that the parent company of the National Enquirer — not Trump or Cohen, his lawyer at the time — paid a former Trump Tower doorman $30,000 in 2015 for the rights to an unsubstantiated claim that Trump fathered a child with an employee.
Pecker previously testified that the Enquirer thought the story would make a huge tabloid story if it were accurate, but ultimately concluded the story was “1000% false” and never published it. Both Trump and the woman in question have denied the allegations.
Bove asked if he would run the story if it were true. Pecker replied, “Yes.”
The term “catch and kill” was not used at the 2015 meeting
Pecker also previously testified that he hatched a plan with Trump and Cohen in August 2015 for the National Enquirer to help Trump's presidential campaign.
But under questioning from Trump's lawyer on Friday, Pecker acknowledged that the meeting did not mention the term “catch and kill,” which describes the practice of tabloids buying the rights to a story so it never sees the light of day.
The meeting also did not discuss any “financial dimension,” such as the National Enquirer paying people on Trump's behalf for the rights to their stories, Pecker said.
Deal with Karen McDougal
Defense questioning then turned to a deal between the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Bove struggled to get to the bottom of what McDougal's and the Enquirer's goals were when he took the $150,000 deal in 2016.
The deal gave American Media — where Pecker was CEO from 1999 to 2020 — exclusive rights to McDougal's description of any relationship with “any then-married man,” a clause that Pecker testified specifically referred to Trump. They claim they had an affair in 2006 and 2007; Trump denies this.
The contract also required McDougal to pose on magazine covers and to ghostwrite columns and other content on fitness and aging for various American Media titles.
Earlier this week, Pecker testified that the content provision was essentially for the pact, which was really about keeping McDougal's story out of the public eye and potentially affecting Trump's chances for the presidency.
But on Friday, the ex-publisher said McDougal is trying to restart her career and that American Media presented itself via video conference as a place that could help her. Indeed, the company ended up operating more than 65 stories to its name, he said.
When American Media signed its deal with her, “You believed it had a legitimate business purpose, right?” Bove asked Pecker.
“He did,” said the former publisher.
Rhona Graff, who started working for Trump in 1987 and left the Trump Organization in April 2021, was the next witness to testify after Pecker. She has been described as Trump's gatekeeper and right-hand man.
Graff testified Friday that she once saw Daniels at Trump Tower before he ran for president. She said she heard Trump say he was interested in casting her on The Apprentice, a reality TV show he hosted.
Graff also said that contact information for Daniels and McDougal was maintained on the Trump Organization's Outlook computer system.
“I never had the same day twice.” It was a very stimulating, exciting and fascinating place,” she said of her 34 years working for the Trump Organization. Graff also described Trump as a “fair” and “respectful” boss.
The court will hear a third witness
Gary Farro, who works at Flagstar Bank as a private client adviser and was previously at First Republic Bank, which Cohen used, was the third witness in the trial.
Farro testified Friday that Cohen had several personal accounts at First Republic when Farro took over the client relationship in 2015. He also detailed a banking arrangement he had with Cohen, according to U.S. media reports of his testimony.
“I was told that I was chosen because of my knowledge and my ability to handle individuals, which can be a little challenging,” Farro said.
“To be honest, I didn't think he was that hard,” he added.
Gag order hearing next week
Meanwhile, Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case in New York, said he plans a hearing next Thursday on allegations that Trump violated a gag order in the case.
Prosecutors asked that Trump be punished for allegedly violating an order that prohibits the former president from publicly criticizing witnesses, certain court officials and their relatives.
Trump could be fined $1,000 for each violation or jailed, though prosecutors say they are not seeking jail time at this time.
The trial will continue on Tuesday next week.
