A former tabloid publisher testified that he agreed to spend tens of thousands of dollars to acquire and then conceal politically embarrassing news about Donald Trump with the assurance that “the boss will take care of it.”.
That pledge, purportedly made by Mr. Trump’s then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, gave former American Media Inc. chief David Pecker permission to pay a former Playboy model $150,000 for the rights to her tale about an alleged affair, he testified in a Manhattan criminal court on Thursday.
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- 1 ‘Karen is a nice girl. What do you think I should do?’
- 2 ‘I wanted to protect Donald Trump’
“Do not worry about it. I am your friend. Cohen allegedly told Mr. Pecker, “The boss will take care of it,” presumably alluding to Mr. Trump.
The details surfaced as the former publisher of the tabloid behemoth, the National Enquirer, returned to the witness stand on Thursday for the third day of testifying in President Trump’s historic criminal trial.
The former president is accused of arranging a plot to cover up hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in order to quiet her about an alleged affair, with the ultimate goal of influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Mr. Pecker testified that the plan stemmed from a “catch and kill” campaign to suppress negative stories about the then-presidential candidate, including his $150,000 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to purchase the rights to her story about an affair she claims she had with Mr. Trump in 2006.
Mr. Trump has been charged with 34 felony charges of falsifying business documents. He has pleaded not guilty to the accusations and denied having affairs.
However, the arrangement with Ms. McDougal appeared to haunt Mr. Trump’s campaign and the early months of his presidency, when he allegedly summoned Mr. Pecker to the White House to inquire about her as his top advisers scheduled calls to discuss extending a non-disclosure agreement with her.
Even one year into his presidency, Mr. Trump was furious following her interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, according to Mr. Pecker.
“I thought you had, and we had, an agreement with Karen McDougal that she can’t give any interviews or be on any television shows,” he told Mr. Pecker, according to his testimony on Thursday.
“I said yes; we had an agreement, but I amended it to allow her to speak to the press,” he claimed. “Karen has a two-year agreement. She received numerous media inquiries. “And I changed her contract at the time.”
Mr. Trump “was very upset,” Mr. Pecker stated. “I couldn’t understand why I did it.”
Ms. McDougal was eventually freed from her contract with Mr. Pecker’s American Media Inc. after Mr. Trump won the 2016 election.
While Mr. Pecker testified about his role in the so-called “catch and kill” scheme involving Ms. McDougal’s story, he refused to comment on Ms. Daniels’ charges two weeks before Election Day.
“Michael Cohen asked me to purchase the story,” Mr. Pecker testified on Thursday. “I said I wasn’t going to buy the story. I will not be involved in this story. I’m not going to be a banker. We will not pay out any more money.”
Mr. Pecker expressed concern that getting linked with an adult film star might jeopardize the distribution of his publications at major retailers like Walmart.
Mr. Pecker told reporters, “Cohen was upset; he said the boss would be furious with me and that I should go forward with purchasing it myself.”
‘Karen is a nice girl. What do you think I should do?’
During an August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower with Cohen and Mr. Trump, the former tabloid mogul testified earlier this week that he assisted in organizing the “catch and kill” plan. This meeting took place shortly after the launch of the then-presidential candidate’s campaign.
In June 2016, Mr. Pecker revealed that he had participated in a three-way call alongside Cohen and Dylan Howard, the former chief content officer of American Media Inc. During the call, Howard had conducted an interview with Ms. McDougal regarding her alleged one-year affair with Mr. Trump.
According to Mr. Pecker, Ms. McDougal rejected an initial offer of $10,000 for the rights to her story.
According to Mr. Pecker, she expressed her desire not to become the next Monica Lewinsky. He believed that she was primarily interested in having American Media purchase the story, more so than anyone else.
According to the account, Mr. Trump personally reached out to Mr. Pecker.
According to Mr. Pecker, Cohen reached out to him to negotiate a deal.
He asked Cohen who would pay for it, to which Cohen replied, “Don’t worry, I’m your friend. The boss will take care of it.”
However, the company has been granted “limited life story rights” which only pertain to “any romantic, personal, and/or physical relationship McDougal has had with any man who was married at the time.”
In his testimony, Mr. Pecker explained his rationale behind the $150,000 payment, stating that he wanted to provide substantiation for it. He specifically mentioned that he wanted the contract to serve as a record, outlining the services that were to be performed by American Media. This would ensure that there was a clear basis for the payment, in accordance with campaign laws.
When asked if the main objective of the agreement was to silence her story in order to prevent her from impacting the election, Mr. Pecker confirmed that it was indeed the case.
Mr. Pecker stated that Mr. Trump extended an invitation for dinner at the White House to express his gratitude after winning the 2016 election.
During that visit, Mr. Trump supposedly inquired about Ms. McDougal, asking, “How’s our girl?”
During his testimony, Mr. Pecker revealed that Mr. Trump expressed gratitude for his role in managing the contract with Ms. McDougal, as well as for handling what he referred to as the “doorman situation.” This particular situation involved a scandalous and completely untrue story that claimed Mr. Trump had fathered an illegitimate child with a maid.
According to Mr. Pecker, he mentioned that the stories would cause significant embarrassment to him, his family, and the campaign.
‘I wanted to protect Donald Trump’
The ongoing trial of Mr. Trump has provided a revealing glimpse into the behind-the-scenes operations of a questionable tabloid and shed light on the former president’s personal involvement in shaping his public image in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
Mr. Pecker’s testimony has also shed light on how he took it upon himself to act as the “eyes and ears” of Mr. Trump’s campaign. He went beyond what he referred to as “checkbook journalism” and provided Mr. Trump with a direct channel for propaganda aimed at manipulating the 2016 election.
After Cohen’s plea deal with federal prosecutors in 2018 regarding campaign finance and tax violations, American Media made an agreement with the government. This agreement ensured that Mr. Pecker and the company would not face criminal prosecution for any potentially unlawful campaign contributions and expenditures from the Trump Tower meeting up until the 2016 election.
In 2019, he struck a deal with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to provide testimony about those transactions in return for immunity from prosecution.
When the Wall Street Journal published an article just days before Election Day in 2016, revealing Ms McDougal’s story, Mr. Trump immediately contacted Mr. Pecker.
Mr. Pecker recounted the incident, expressing his dismay, “He was very upset, saying, ‘How could this happen? I thought you had this under control.'”
Mr. Pecker approved public statements issued by his company regarding the accurate details of American Media’s contract with Ms. McDougal.
He expressed his desire to safeguard his company, himself, and even Donald Trump.
Mr. Pecker emphasized on Thursday that he collaborated with Cohen in order to acquire the rights to Ms. McDougal’s story, ensuring that it would not be published by any other entity.
“We wanted to ensure that the story did not cause any embarrassment to Mr. Trump or have any negative impact on the campaign,” he emphasized.
In September 2016, when Mr. Trump asked American Media to transfer the rights to Ms. McDougal’s story, Cohen set up a shell company. This company then sent an invoice for the “agreed upon ‘flat fee’ for advisory services.”
Mr. Pecker confessed that the transaction had nothing to do with that at all.
“He said that the payment was made for the exclusive lifetime rights to the Karen McDougal story.”
According to Mr. Pecker, he informed Cohen that the deal was no longer happening after discussing the transaction with his counsel.
Mr. Pecker expressed his intense anger and frustration towards me, unleashing a tirade of screams.
According to the statement given by Michael Cohen, he mentioned that the boss would be extremely displeased with the individual in question. When the person expressed their decision to not proceed, stating that the deal was off, Cohen responded by expressing disbelief and reminding them of their friendship, emphasizing his role as their lawyer.
Mr. Pecker stated that American Media has not been reimbursed for the payment.
When asked if he still harbors any negative feelings towards Mr. Trump after all these years, Mr. Pecker responded by saying “on the contrary.”
“I consider Donald Trump as my mentor, who has been instrumental in guiding me throughout my career,” he expressed. “Despite not having any recent conversations, I still regard him as a friend, and there is no animosity between us.”
