David Pecker is expected to be the first witness called in Trump hush money trial, source says

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/21/politics/trump-hush-money-trial-witness-david-pecker/index.html


Huh, how about that, Pecker is going to be the first to appear as a
witness, they should have had Pecker show up right after the Porn Star
showed up...

David Pecker, the former chairman of the National Enquirer’s parent
company, is expected to be the first witness called by the Manhattan
district attorney’s office in former President Donald Trump’s criminal
hush money trial, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Pecker was a central player in the alleged scheme to pay hush money to
adult-film star Stormy Daniels to cover up her alleged affair with
Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

The DA’s office is expected to call him after the completion of
opening statements, which are set to begin Monday. The New York Times
was first to report on the expected witness.

As the then-chairman and CEO of American Media Inc., Pecker was
involved in numerous “catch-and-kill” schemes orchestrated on Trump’s
behalf.

In October 2016, an agent for Daniels contacted AMI and said she was
willing to go public with her allegations of an affair with Trump. The
former president has denied the affair.

Pecker then allegedly contacted Trump’s personal attorney, Michael
Cohen, who negotiated the deal to “purchase [her] silence” for
$130,000, according to court filings.

That $130,000 payment, which was reimbursed to Cohen by the Trump
Organization, is at the center of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin
Bragg’s case against the former president. Bragg accused Trump in an
April 2023 indictment of “falsifying New York business records in
order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from
American voters before and after the 2016 election.” Trump has pleaded
not guilty.

Daniels and Cohen are also expected to appear as witnesses during the
trial, sources previously told CNN.

In a separate incident, AMI agreed to pay model and actress Karen
McDougal $150,000 months before the 2016 election for her silence
about an alleged affair with Trump. While this payment is not part of
the charges against the former president, prosecutors are expected to
use it to establish a pattern of such payments.

AMI was not criminally charged but did admit to making the payment to
McDougal. The company paid a $187,500 fine to the Federal Election
Commission for making an unlawful campaign contribution.