Hours before court was set to begin today, #Trump made a campaign stop at a construction site in Manhattan, where he was asked about David #Pecker’s testimony & their relationship. “David’s been very nice," Trump said. "He’s a nice guy.”
(He was nice, but his testimony has been seriously damning to Trump)
Trump was also asked whether he would pay fines if Justice #Merchan found that he had violated the #GagOrder imposed on him by the court. “Oh, I have no idea,” he said.
As #Trump’s motorcade arrived at court just before 9 a.m., a group of a few dozen people demonstrating against him blocked traffic. They stretched a banner across Centre Street that read “No One Is Above the Law.” They sang out, “Trump is not above the law.” Police monitored, & the demonstration was orderly.
Prosecutors submitted what they said are an additional 4X #Trump has violated the #GagOrder, including an attack on MichaelCohen while speaking to reporters gathered in the hallway outside the courtroom.
Those reporters are there so that Trump, who claims he's denied his constitutional right to speak to them, can do so. Another violation prosecutors mentioned is an interview on #RightWing radio in which Trump referred to the jury as "95% Democrats."
"He's doing what the order tells him not to do," Christopher #Conroy, a prosecutor, about #Trump's alleged additional violations of the #GagOrder.
They described Trump's comments at an event this morning as another violation.
Trump was asked by reporters about David #Pecker's testimony, & Trump called Pecker
"a nice guy." Prosecutors say it was a message to Pecker & others: be "nice," or get attacked. (yeah I don’t know about that one)
The 12 jurors & 6 alternates were seated & David #Pecker resumed his testimony about #KarenMcDougal, a fmr Playboy model who said that she had a sexual relationship w/ #Trump. Prosecutors had saved the specifics of McDougal's story for today. It's an attention-catching way to start & the jurors are listening closely in these opening moments.
In the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign, #Trump called David #Pecker, publisher of The National Enquirer. The candidate was seeking advice about a fmr #PlayboyModel who was trying to sell her story of an affair w/him, Pecker told jurors.
Pecker suggested a way to silence the model, #KarenMcDougal. “I think that the story should be purchased,” he said he told Trump. “And I believe that you should buy it.”
#Pecker says allegations about women & #Trump were always met by this response from #MichaelCohen, Trump's fmr fixer: "It's not true."
#Cohen, Pecker & #DylanHoward, the #NationalEnquirer editor who interviewed #KarenMcDougal, had a phone call after the interview. Howard said that McDougal claimed to have had an affair w/Trump. Cohen immediately denied the affair happened, but then said that he would look into it. Eventually, he said that a member of the group should try to buy the story.
Joshua #Steinglass, the prosecutor, is now asking #Pecker about a call he had w/ #Trump about #KarenMcDougal after #DylanHoward interviewed her. Steinglass is emphasizing Trump’s direct personal involvement.
Pecker testifies Trump described Karen McDougal as "a nice girl." Pecker said this conversation made him believe that Trump "knew who she was." Trump is stone-faced as Pecker talks about this conversation.
#Pecker is now describing a follow-up conversation w/ #MichaelCohen in which he asked Cohen who would pay for KarenMcDougal's story. This was a central concern for Pecker. Cohen reassured him, telling him, "The boss will take care of it."
A recurring theme is the concern over who would pay for these Trump-related efforts. Pecker is now attesting to a key point prosecutors made in their opening statement, that #Trump was famously frugal.
#Pecker testifies that he knew #MichaelCohen "didn't have any authorization to disperse any funds from" the TrumpOrg. Even when the 2 went for lunch, Pecker says, Pecker always paid.
Pecker testifies that after negotiating w/ #KarenMcDougal, he again asked Cohen who would pay. Cohen - who previously said that #Trump would - this time said, "You should pay." Pecker was reluctant, having already purchased another story on Trump's behalf, but Cohen swore he would eventually be made whole by Trump.
In addition to $150k for her lifetime rights, #Pecker says that #KarenMcDougal had a number of other requests, including being able to write for celebrity magazines, appearing on the cover of health & fitness magazines, & starting her own fitness clothing line & beauty product line. She also wanted to work as a red-carpet anchor.
#Pecker is now describing a 2002 conversation w/ #ArnoldSchwarzenegger where he asked Pecker not to run negative stories about him before his run for governor of California. He was ultimately elected & served from 2003-2011.
Pecker says that women did come forward about relationships that they had w/Schwarzenegger & he did not publish stories on them. One that Pecker passed on ended up in The Los Angeles Times.
#Pecker talked about #ArnoldSchwarzenegger for a long time, coming off as meandering as he described doing #CatchAndKill deals for Schwarzenegger once he entered politics. But Joshua #Steinglass, the prosecutor, then helped him link those deals to the matter at hand, asking: "Did you come to appreciate the legalities surrounding such an arrangement w/a political candidate?"
Pecker says he did.
The LA Times’ story about Schwarzenegger was very damaging.
#Pecker is openly admitting to his involvement in the #CatchAndKill scheme & is doing so quite candidly.
Pecker is now detailing the agreement #AMI, #Nationa Enquirer's parent company, struck w/ #KarenMcDougal. The contract guaranteed she would be put on 2 magazine covers & that the company would have the right to publish fitness columns by her. It's worth noting how bizarre this set-up was. It wasn't just buying her story — it was also giving her work w/AMI.
The deal went above & beyond for #KarenMcDougal & included the hiring of ghostwriters to pen her stories.
#Pecker says that the contract was intended to stipulate that McDougal would perform "services" for #AMI, that there was a basis for the $150k she was receiving.
Pecker is asked if The #NationalEnquirer had any intention to publish McDougal's story. Pecker is blunt: "No, we did not."
This is pure #CatchAndKill.
#Pecker's last few minutes of testimony were key. He said that his company had disguised the #HushMoney payment to #KarenMcDougal as a deal for services she would perform for #AMI.
This is important for the prosecution's case:
They have to show that the #conspiracy that they accuse #Trump of participating in to win the 2016 election was conducted through "unlawful means." Pecker just indicated that it was.
Despite #Pecker's assertions that he structured the deal w/ #KarenMcDougal to avoid violating #CampaignFinance#law, his company later admitted doing just that in its 2018 non-prosecution agreement w/ federal prosecutors.
The #jurors are carefully looking at screens on which the evidence - the contract, text exchanges - is being displayed.
"This is a very, very large purchase," #Pecker says of paying $150k to #KarenMcDougal.
Prosecution introduces invoices & vouchers showing the payments to McDougal.
#Steinglass, prosecutor, is walking Pecker through a pretty extensive set of exchanges w/ #MichaelCohen & then transactions to create a payment voucher for McDougal's lawyer.
There's a sense of anxiety around all that was taking place to try to justify this payment internally & to placate #Trump's team.
#Pecker is now describing Trump's interest in obtaining boxes of material regarding #KarenMcDougal, saying that #Trump was worried about what would happen if Pecker got "hit by a bus" or his company was sold. Trump "did not want someone else to potentially publish those stories."
Pecker testifies that he was expecting to be paid back for the $150k he sent to Karen McDougal. This is a very important bridge to the third & final #HushMoney deal.
Because #Pecker had such a hard time getting #Trump to reimburse him, he was later unwilling to buy a third story, #StormyDaniels's story of having had sex w/Trump. Thus, #MichaelCohen bought her story instead, leading us straight to the #criminal charges at issue.
We still haven't reached the payment from which the #criminal charges themselves ultimately stem. But #Pecker's testimony about the #KarenMcDougal deal is important for the prosecution's argument about #Trump's intent: They argue that he was seeking to win the election through illegal means & the specifics of the McDougal deal help to bolster that argument.
#DanielRotstein, the man #Pecker used in an ultimately failed effort to secretly obtain reimbursement for the #KarenMcDougal deal, was his own #fixer of sorts. Pecker had long used him to deliver the news that employees would be fired, to the point that Rotstein became known at Pecker's company as "Dr.
Death."
Lots of evidence per the disguised monetary transactions related to the #KarenMcDougal deal. But most of the #jurors are still paying close attention, turning their heads from the prosecutor, Joshua #Steinglass, to the #witness, #Pecker, & back again.
Prosecutor #Steinglass wrapped up questions about #KarenMcDougal by asking #Pecker about a contentious exchange w/ #MichaelCohen, in which Pecker got concerned about the potentially #unlawful implications of the deal.
Cohen was upset & screamed: "The boss is going to be very angry at you."
Pecker — thoroughly anxious then - was firm.
“The deal is off," Pecker recalled telling him. Pecker concluded by saying that he was never paid for the McDougal deal & there was a 20-min break.
#Trump muttered something out loud when #Pecker offered this analysis.
#Steinglass just brought up #HopeHicks, Trump’s fmr comms aide, asking about an email chain that was forwarded to her the day after the #AccessHollywood tape came out. Steinglass asks Pecker if he’s ever known Trump to use email. The answer was no (tho in the last ~18 mos, Trump started texting w/people for the 1st time).
Some key characters are being introduced now, including #StormyDaniels, aka #StephanieClifford, whom Pecker identifies as a porn star. #Steinglass asks Pecker: “How do you know of her?” Then he laughs & says he’ll ask the question in a different way. He takes a slightly safer approach, & Pecker begins to describe how his employees came to be in contact w/ #Daniels.
Trump is subdued & not exhibiting much emotion as Stormy Daniels comes up. But the stress of the moment is more apparent on his lead lawyer, Todd #Blanche, who crossed his arms over his chest after she was brought up.
#Pecker says he didn’t want The #NationalEnquirer associated w/a porn star [puhlease, what it might soil their stellar journalistic reputation?], meaning #StormyDaniels, because one of the tabloid's biggest distributors was Walmart, where a lot of families shop.
#Steinglass has seemed at ease during this direct examination of #Pecker. He is the most recent addition to this prosecution team but he is a veteran prosecutor at the Manhattan DA's office. He previously led the effort to convict the #TrumpOrganization in 2022 & also secured a conviction against 2 #ProudBoys#extremists for a violent brawl in 2019.
The #jury seems rapt as the Daniels tale starts to unspool.
As #Pecker testifies about conversations he & #MichaelCohen had about Daniels, he keeps his eyes glued to the exhibit & to the prosecutors. Reportedly he has not glanced at Trump once.
#Pecker, before a tense & focused courtroom, is recounting Trump calling him directly 3 days before that year’s #election day, 1 day after the WSJ article was published.
He was “very upset, saying how could this happen, I thought you had this under control, either you or one of your people have leaked the story," Pecker says.
"I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself & I wanted also to protect Donald Trump,” Pecker testifies.
#Pecker reiterates the importance of keeping #KarenMcDougal's story quiet, in a comment that relates directly to the prosecution's argument that he & #Trump conspired to aid his #election.
#Pecker has at least 3X described #MichaelCohen as warning him that “the boss” — meaning #Trump — would be “angry” if Pecker didn’t do whatever was being asked of him in that moment.
#Pecker is now describing a post-election meeting he had w/ #MichaelCohen at #Trump Tower. Pecker said Cohen told him he had not been reimbursed for his payment to #StormyDaniels. Cohen, who also wanted to be paid a bonus for the year, asked Pecker “if I [Pecker] would talk to the boss on his behalf.”
In the first mention of #JaredKushner, #Trump's son-in-law & adviser, #Pecker says he was walking outside Trump Tower when #Kushner "tapped me on the shoulder."
[not at all creepy]
Pecker adds that Kushner said: "I'll get you upstairs."
[I can only imagine Pecker suddenly feared defenestration]
One of #Trump's hallmarks, even before he became president, was his tendency to treat everyone other than himself as not just beneath him [#narcissist] but unworthy of distinction & therefore equal in their subservience.
Meaning, he did not differentiate between the Director of the #FBI & the head of a supermarket #tabloid. In his mind they were just people who he thought owed him.
#Republicans — 3 who went on to work in the #Trump admin, while the 4th, #Comey, would eventually become one of Trump's chief adversaries. #Pecker, escorted by #Kushner, walked into that #shitshow & was then asked about #KarenMcDougal by the then president-elect.
Pecker testifies that in front of Comey [#WITNESSES!], the head of the #FBI, Trump thanked him for purchasing the stories - & likely committing AT LEAST 1 #CRIME in the process, as Pecker well knew.
#Pecker said that during that meeting, #Trump referred to #KarenMcDougal as "our girl" when discussing her. [gross]
Prosecution asks #Pecker whether Trump was concerned about his #wife or #family finding out about his alleged #affairs when he was campaigning for office.
Pecker responds:
“NO.”
This suggests that Trump's worries were electoral, not personal, purely #POLITICAL.
Okay, after feeding/hydrating/bathing/drying/loving #BabySquirrel Ramone, my #TrumpTrial coverage is back on. Thank goodness they recognize adoptive #squirrel parental rights [obviously I’m kidding]
I’m back. #BabySquirrel Ramone is totes fine, he’s just getting — well squirrelly 🤷🏼♀️ — so he’s currently in old purse the size of a deck of cards, lined w/old fleece & slung around my neck.
this is where we are now:
“If yer doin stuff, I want to do stuff too.”
It’s a fair complaint. I’m not his superior, just the safety belt in our scenario.
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