Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified at Donald Trump’s hush money trial about catch-and-kill agreements between Trump and the tabloid, detailing arrangements involving a doorman and a Playboy model. Prosecutors allege that Trump approved the schemes in which the Enquirer would buy exclusive rights to damaging information about him to prevent it from being published elsewhere. The first incident involved a doorman claiming Trump fathered a child with a maid, which turned out to be untrue. The second incident involved a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who alleged an affair with Trump in 2006-2007, which Trump refused to buy exclusive rights to.
Pecker testified about reaching out to Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, to investigate the doorman’s claims and was eventually agreed to pay $30,000 for the story. Cohen assured Pecker that Trump would be pleased with the arrangement if the story turned out to be true. However, upon further investigation, it was determined that the story was false. Pecker also discussed Cohen asking him to look into McDougal’s claims about an affair with Trump. Trump refused to buy the rights to her story, leading to the Enquirer paying her $150,000 to protect Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Pecker testified about the pressure he faced from Cohen to resolve the McDougal situation quickly, suggesting that Cohen was under intense scrutiny to handle the matter promptly. Prosecutors alleged that Trump and Cohen planned to create a shell company to reimburse the Enquirer for the payment to McDougal, but the plan fell through. Pecker’s testimony sheds light on the inner workings of the catch-and-kill schemes between Trump and the National Enquirer, revealing the lengths they went to in order to prevent damaging stories from surfacing.
The trial will resume on Thursday following over two hours of testimony from Pecker. The revelations from his testimony provide insight into the secretive agreements between Trump, Cohen, and the National Enquirer that aimed to protect Trump’s image and campaign. The details of the arrangements involving the doorman and the Playboy model highlight the extent to which Trump and his associates were willing to go to prevent potentially damaging information from being made public. Pecker’s testimony adds another layer to the ongoing legal challenges facing Trump and his inner circle. Sara Boboltz contributed reporting to the coverage of the trial.
