On his 3rd day of testimony, #Pecker, the fmr #NationalEnquirer publisher, described his involvement in the #CatchAndKill of the stories of 2 women who claimed to have had sex w/ #Trump: #KarenMcDougal, a Playboy model, & #StormyDaniels, the porn star whose 2016 #HushMoney payoff forms the basis of the #criminal case.

#law #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference

#Trump is charged w/falsifying 34 business records to cover up a $130k payment to #StormyDaniels, who has said they had a sexual encounter in 2006 & was shopping that story in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump denies the charges & ever having had sex w/ either woman.

He could face probation or prison if convicted.

#law #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference

#Pecker testified that as part of the #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #AMI paid #KarenMcDougal $150k for her story, w/no intention of ever publishing it.

Pecker expected repayment from #Trump. He asked #MichaelCohen who would handle it, & Cohen responded, “The boss will take care of it.”

Because Pecker had such a hard time getting Trump to pay, he was unwilling to buy the 3rd story: #StormyDaniels’s.

“I am not a bank,” Pecker recalled saying.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference

#Pecker suggested that #MichaelCohen buy #StormyDaniels's story, leading to the #HushMoney deal, repayments & records at issue.

The prosecution’s discussion of the deal w/ #KarenMcDougal —brokered in summer 2016— demonstrated that the payment was part of a #conspiracy to #influence that year’s #election.

Pecker said that McDougal’s payment was disguised as a contract for services, to avoid violating #CampaignFinance #laws.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference #CatchAndKill

“I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself & I wanted also to protect Donald Trump,” #Pecker said.

Pecker was asked whether he believed #Trump was concerned that his wife or family would find out. But Pecker suggested that Trump’s concerns were electoral, not personal.

Pecker testified to at least 2X when Trump asked after #KarenMcDougal, referring to her at a Trump Tower meeting as “our girl.” He also asked about her during a meeting at the #WhiteHouse.

#law #TrumpTrial

The Trump Tower meeting also included #JamesComey, then the #FBI dir, #ReincePriebus, who was chair of the RNC, #SeanSpicer the WH press sec & #MikePompeo the dir of the CIA.

Totally normal.

At that meeting #Pecker reassured #Trump that everything was fine.

Trump then told the group that Pecker probably “knows more than anyone else in this room.”

“It was a joke,” Pecker testified, adding, “They didn’t laugh.”

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference