Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought his star witness, David Pecker, the former head of the company that owns the National Enquirer, to the stand to testify in the Trump ‘Hush Money’ trial, but things didn’t go the way Bragg thought it would go.
Just for background knowledge of the case, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges Trump falsified business records to hide reimbursement payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen who used the payments to silence porn star Stormy Daniels alleged affair with Trump.
Pecker testified before the court that he first heard about the story when Daniels approached the National Inquirer to sell the story for $120,000.
Pecker, a former associate of Trump, testified when he talked to Trump about the reimbursement payments to Stormy Daniels, Trump was utterly clueless about it.
The testimony by Pecker has the potential to completely could undermine the prosecution’s claim that Trump was actively involved in orchestrating the cover-up.
🚨David Pecker's testimony today destroyed the prosecution's case
He testified that Trump "had no idea what [he] was talking about" when he asked about reimbursing Michael Cohen for the Stormy payment
He also said the "catch & kill" scheme was devised by him & Cohen–NOT Trump pic.twitter.com/q9lr7GCDbP
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) April 25, 2024
Here’s what AP reported:
Pecker, when he mentioned the reimbursement to Trump, the former president expressed ignorance about the situation. This statement could undermine the prosecution’s claim that Trump was actively involved in orchestrating the cover-up.
But when it came to the seamy claims by porn performer Stormy Daniels, David Pecker, the tabloid’s longtime publisher, said he put his foot down.
“I am not paying for this story,” he told jurors Thursday at Trump’s hush money trial, recounting his version of a conversation with Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen about the catch-and-kill scheme that prosecutors alleged amounted to interference in the race. Pecker was already $180,000 in the hole on other Trump-related stories by the time Daniels came along, at which point, he said, “I didn’t want to be involved in this.”
Pecker’s testimony was a critical building block for the prosecution’s theory that their partnership was a way to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election. The Manhattan district attorney is seeking to elevate the gravity of the history-making first trial of a former American president and the first of four criminal cases against Trump to reach a jury.
President Trump is right. Thursday’s David Pecker testimony totally destroyed Alvin Bragg’s case. But Judge Merchan is a never Trumper, so he won’t drop the case. The Supreme Court should stop the New York Democrats' election interference and shut down Bragg’s rigged trial. pic.twitter.com/vJ9HldXOBs
— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) April 26, 2024
Per Mediaite:
Donald Trump praised former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker as a “nice guy” on Thursday ahead of Pecker continuing his testimony in the former president’s hush money trial about “catch and kill” schemes to help his campaign.
Trump is facing more than 30 felony counts for falsifying business records. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges the former president deliberately covered up a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to hide an affair. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
On Thursday morning, Trump spoke to a group of construction workers in New York ahead of Pecker continuing his testimony, the Supreme Court weighing his presidential immunity argument, and Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling on whether the former president violated a gag order in place.
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