Who Is David Pecker—and What’d He Have to Tell Trump’s Jury? – Mother Jones

The primary prison trial of a former US president is underway, with Donald Trump dealing with 34 felony counts of falsifying enterprise information associated to hush-money funds allegedly made in 2016 to cowl up an affair he had with grownup movie star Stormy Daniels. Right here’s the newest—the important thing updates and absurd moments—from the historic trial.

“The folks name David Pecker.”

And with that, the primary witness in Donald Trump’s prison trial took the stand on Monday, the place prosecutors questioned the previous president and CEO of American Media Inc., the dad or mum firm of the Nationwide Enquirer, in regards to the apply of “catch and kill” to purchase unique tales to stop them from showing in different publications. 

“We used checkbook journalism, and we paid for tales,” Pecker stated when requested in regards to the tactic. Prosecutors have stated that Pecker’s testimony will reveal his deep involvement in serving to the Trump marketing campaign kill tales that had been unflattering to the then–presidential candidate. As my colleague David Corn wrote in a terrific curtain-raiser final week:

Throughout many years, Trump pumped up his picture as a swinger who considered ladies as trophies and toys, with their worth depending on their appears. The Stormy Daniels case snugly suits into this narrative: Trump was a participant who apparently cheated on his spouse (a brand new mom) with a porn star. That might have been hardcore Nationwide Enquirer materials—besides that Trump was an necessary operator inside the tabloid cosmos and an in depth pal of David Pecker, the president of the corporate that revealed the Nationwide Enquirer. Pecker and the journal’s editor conspired with Trump to stop Daniels from going public together with her allegation proper earlier than Election Day in 2016. That resulted within the $130,000 hush-money payoff to her. And that cost was falsely recorded on the Trump Group books as a authorized expense—which is the premise of the prison case in opposition to Trump. The particular query at hand is whether or not this phony bookkeeping was accomplished to cowl up what might need been an unlawful marketing campaign expenditure concocted by Trump and his fixer Michael Cohen to affect the election. 

Sounds scummy, proper? However Pecker’s deep involvement within the sordid extends far past Trump. Bear in mind these leaked sexts between Jeff Bezos and his now-fiancée, Lauren Sánchez? Bezos accused American Media of making an attempt to extort him over these compromising messages, which kicked off an FBI investigation into Pecker’s alleged efforts to drum up enterprise with Saudi Arabia and goal a mutual enemy of Mohammed bin Salman and…you guessed it, Donald Trump. 

Pecker testified for about half-hour immediately. He’ll retake the stand tomorrow, when maybe we’ll hear lurid particulars that by no means made it to print, comparable to Trump’s alleged request to be spanked and watch hours of Shark Week.