April 25 (UPI) — Ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker on Thursday testified that he purchased the rights to a story about an alleged affair Donald Trump had with a Playboy model so that it would not damage his 2016 presidential campaign.
When asked by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass during the second day of Trump’s New York hush-money trial if the primary reason he purchased the right’s to the story from Karen McDougal, who alleged the affair, was to influence the 2016 election, Pecker replied, “Yes, it was.”
Pecker also testified that he was aware that “expenditures by a corporation made for the purpose of influencing an election” were unlawful.
Prosecutors asked Pecker about AMI’s handling of the McDougal payoff to establish proof under the elements of New York Election Law 17-15.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office intends to show Trump broke that law with allegedly falsified business records designed not only to conceal the hush money payments to both McDougal and to adult film actress Stormy Daniels but to help him win the election.
That law provides penalties for conspiratorial acts to promote or prevent a candidate’s election through illegal means. Falsifying business records for that purpose is what prosecutors say happened.
Pecker also testified that American Media Inc., the National Enquirer’s parent company, checked with an election lawyer before wrapping up a hush money agreement for Trump with McDougal.
Trump is charged with 34 felonies alleging falsifying business records in order to facilitate hush money payments to McDougal and adult actress Stormy Daniels to keep their stories alleging affairs with Trump away from voters.
Trump has denied the affairs and pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes.
As the trial resumes Judge Juan Merchan is also considering whether Trump violated a gag order in the case 10 times as the prosecution alleges.
Trump said if the judge orders fines for violating the gag order he doesn’t know if he will pay them.
“I have no idea. They’ve taken my constitutional right away with a gag order. That’s all it is. It’s election interference,” he said.
The order is very limited in scope and does not prevent Trump from exercising First Amendment free speech rights.
Merchan’s order says while the trial is underway Trump can’t make public statements about “counsel in the case other than the District Attorney, members of the court’s staff and the District Attorney’s staff, or the family members of any counsel, staff member, the Court or the District Attorney, if those statements are made with the intent to materially interfere with, or to cause others to materially interfere with, counsel’s or staffs work in this criminal case.”
Merchan said Tuesday after a hearing he would “reserve a decision” on the gag order violations.
During testimony Tuesday Pecker detailed a scheme called “catch and kill” where the National Enquirer would buy off people who had negative stories to tell about Trump by paying them for their stories to stop the stories from going public.
Pecker testified that he worked with Trump’s attorney and “fixer” at the time, Michael Cohen.
Pecker said the role he and the National Enquirer played helped Trump’s campaign, which is at the core of the prosecution’s case.
Pecker also testified Tuesday that he would concoct fake negative news stories in the National Enquirer designed to hurt Trump’s Republican primary opponents in the 2016 election.
He said Trump would send him phony information about Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, as well as Ben Carson, which the Enquirer would use to publish fake news stories to hurt them and help Trump.
