During his testimony to Donald TrumpDuring Thursday’s secret trial, former tabloid mogul David Pecker wasted no time in blaming Trump entirely for the entire scheme.
Pecker, former CEO of American Media Inc. and former publisher of National investigator, is a key witness in the trial and returned to Manhattan court for the third day to testify on accusations that Trump illegally paid an adult film actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair before the 2016 election. Pecker, as part of a deal with the prosecution, is granted immunity and can give details of his role in the “catch and kill” schemes designed to protect Trump from ‘negative coverage.
A question in court concerned a payment agreement Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also had an affair with Trump. Pecker told the court that Trump had direct knowledge of the payment contract, in addition to its then fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen.
When asked by the prosecutor whether Trump wanted to hide the negative stories for the sake of his presidential campaign or for protect your familyPecker replied simply, “I thought it was for the campaign.”
During Trump’s presidency, Pecker said he became concerned after being contacted by the Federal Election Commission. Cohen tried to reassure Pecker by telling him that “Jeff Sessions is the attorney general and Donald Trump has him in his pocket.” In previous testimony, Pecker also detailed how he broke campaign finance laws to help Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, explaining how he failed to report the secret payments.
Trump is facing 34 criminal charges for allegedly falsifying business records with intent to commit a predicate crime in his attempt to conceal an affair with an adult film actress Stormy Daniels by paying for it. Daniels is expected to take the witness stand in the trial following Pecker.
