Former President Trump’s hush money trial adjourned Tuesday after a second day of testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who gave a detailed account of an agreement he reached with Trump and his fixer, Michael Cohen, to bury negative stories about the then-presidential candidate during the 2016 campaign.
The day began with New York Judge Juan Merchan hearing arguments over whether the former president violated a gag order imposed on him in the case. No ruling has yet to be made on that.
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Trump stopped and spoke in the hallway outside the courtroom after proceedings adjourned for the day, complaining about the temperature of the room and the gag order placed on him.
“I think it’s a disgrace. It’s totally unconstitutional,” Trump said of the gag order. “I don’t believe it’s — not to this extent — ever happened before. I’m not allowed to talk, but people are allowed to say whatever they want about me. Very unfair.”
The former president is only restricted from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and the judge’s family.
“They are keeping me in a courtroom — that’s freezing by the way — in a courtroom all day long while he’s out campaigning,” Trump added of President Biden, who is holding campaign events in Florida on Tuesday.
— Brett Samuels
Merchan adjourned proceedings for the day. Pecker’s testimony is expected to resume Thursday, since the trial does not take place on Wednesdays.
Trump left the courtroom with a scowl on his face but gave one reporter a tight-lipped smile on his way out the door.
— Ella Lee
Pecker testified that he had a conversation with Trump about ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story of an alleged affair with Trump.
The publisher said he suggested to Trump that the then-presidential candidate should purchase the story to keep it from being made public. Trump told him that “any time he’d do anything like this, it always gets out,” according to Pecker.
They tabled the matter, and Trump said Cohen would call after he thought about it, Pecker said.
— Ella Lee
Pecker detailed a conversation with Cohen where the publisher expressed a desire to release Dino Sajudin, the doorman, from their exclusivity deal immediately since it was “not true anyhow.”
But Trump’s then-fixer said no, and Pecker complied.
“He said, ‘When?’ I said, ‘Now,’” Pecker said. “He said, ‘No, release him after the election.’”
Sajudin was ultimately released from the exclusivity deal on Dec. 9, 2016, according to evidence shown by the state — after the election.
— Ella Lee
Even after determining doorman Dino Sajudin’s story was false, the Enquirer still chose to purchase rights to it to ensure other media outlets didn’t become privy to it, Pecker testified.
“So this was a way to lock it up?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked.
“Yes,” Pecker replied, adding that even though the story was false, it would have been “very embarrassing to the campaign” if it got out.
— Ella Lee
Pecker testified he “immediately” called Cohen after a tipster informed the Enquirer that a Trump Tower doorman was claiming the former president fathered an illegitimate child with another building employee.
Cohen called the story false off the bat, Pecker said, but agreed to look into it. The Enquirer ultimately bought the story to have it “removed from market.”
It was the first story the paper had ever killed about Trump, Pecker said. He never spoke with Trump about the matter directly.
When Pecker agreed to buy the story, Cohen told him “the boss” — the title Cohen used for Trump — would be “very pleased.”
— Ella Lee
To prove that Trump is guilty of felony counts of falsifying business records, instead of misdemeanor counts, prosecutors must prove he intended to commit or conceal another crime.
The district attorney’s office said during a sidebar that the “primary” crime it is seeking to use to prove that is conspiracy to promote or prevent an election, Section 17-152 under New York law.
— Ella Lee
Defense attorneys are objecting to a line of questioning about ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
They claim the state is attempting to elicit hearsay statements from Bannon that are being offered as the truth, even though he has not been declared a “co-conspirator.”
The prosecutors say the questioning should be allowed because in order to find Trump guilty, they must prove he intended to commit or conceal another crime by falsifying business records.
The judge sent the jury and Pecker out of the courtroom to discuss with Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors.
— Ella Lee
Prosecutors with the district attorney’s office introduced as evidence a series of negative articles the National Enquirer published about Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign opponents.
One headline read “Donald Trump blasts Ted Cruz’s Dad for Photo with JFK Assassin.” Another was titled “’Family Man’ Marco Rubio’s Love Child Stunner.”
The ideas came from Cohen, Pecker said.
“After the Republican debates, and based on the success that some of the other candidates had, I would receive a call from Michael Cohen, and he would direct me and direct [the Enquirer’s then-editor-in-chief] Dylan Howard which candidate and which direction we should go,” Pecker said.
— Ella Lee
Unprompted by prosecutors, Pecker said Cohen provided information that served as the foundation for negative stories about Trump’s opponents.
The ex-publisher testified Cohen would suggest running a negative story about one of Trump’s 2016 adversaries, such as Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) or Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and then provide the unflattering information about them.
“That was the basis for our story,” Pecker said.
Both Cruz and Rubio ran against Trump during the 2016 Republican primary.
— Ella Lee
Pecker said that his deal with Trump and Cohen was not put into writing.
“It was just an agreement among friends,” Pecker said with a smile.
— Ella Lee
Trump appears fully engaged in Pecker’s testimony, leaning to the side to get a better view and maintaining his gaze on the witness stand.
— Ella Lee
Pecker said he attended a meeting at Trump Tower to discuss strategy for the former president’s campaign.
Trump and Cohen were there, in addition to then-Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks, who was “in and out” of the meeting.
At the meeting, Pecker testified that he told Trump he would be the campaign’s “eyes and ears,” in addition to running positive stories about Trump and negative ones about his opponents.
He called the agreement a “mutual benefit.”
“It would help the campaign; it’d also help me,” he said, referencing magazine sales.
— Ella Lee
Pecker testified that he received a personal invitation to Trump’s 2016 presidential bid announcement.
“As a friend, I would love if you could make it,” Cohen wrote in an email to Pecker, presented as evidence. “Let me know so I can save you a seat next to me on the atrium floor … No one deserves to be there more than you …”
The announcement was made in June 2015, when Trump famously rode down an escalator in Trump Tower to launch his first presidential bid.
— Ella Lee
Before Trump announced his 2016 presidential bid, Pecker said he spoke with Michael Cohen, Trump’s then-fixer, once a month or twice a quarter.
But after he made his candidacy official, that communication increased to where Pecker and Cohen spoke “at minimum every week.”
“And if there was an issue, it could be daily,” Pecker said.
— Ella Lee