David Pecker, associated with the tabloid the National Enquirer, was continuing his time on the witness stand this Thursday amid former President Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial in New York City on charges of falsifying business records. The case stems from hush money given before the 2016 elections to a woman named Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had an affair with Trump.
“NEW: The Trump trial just broke for lunch, but the last thing elicited was a great moment for the prosecution: that despite the Enquirer’s benefiting from positive stories about Trump, it was against its interest to bury McDougal’s story, which was “Enquirer gold,”” said MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin on X (formerly Twitter) this Thursday.
Pecker eventually went under questioning from the defense as this week moved forward, with some such defense questioning on Thursday.
“McDougal” refers to a woman named Karen McDougal, who allegedly had an affair with Trump and was targeted by financial arrangements purchasing the rights to her story that silenced her, because the purchasers — in the Enquirer camp — kept the story hidden rather than publicizing the account.
Putting McDougal’s silencing at odds with the Enquirer’s general practices could eliminate some potential excuses for what they were doing — which (the evident idea from prosecutors is) was part of an ambition to impact the 2016 presidential election in a manner favorable to Donald Trump. Those ambitions are part of the core case against Trump, though the specific payouts to McDougal aren’t in Trump’s charges, and Trump’s the only defendant.
Besides the core proceedings, there will also be a new hearing next week on allegations from prosecutors that Trump repeatedly violated a gag order imposed in this case that limits Trump from commenting publicly about witnesses, jurors, and other individuals.
