Donald Trump Fears David Pecker's 'Power': Attorney

Former President Donald Trump is afraid of former publisher David Pecker's "power," according to attorney Asha Rangappa.

Despite facing a gag order that bars him from making public statements about counsels, jurors and "foreseeable witnesses," Trump has been outspoken about certain individuals who are expected to testify in his criminal trial in Manhattan. His attacks on former attorney Michael Cohen and adult film actress Stormy Daniels have resulted in several complaints from the prosecution, who asked the judge Tuesday to fine Trump $1,000 for each of the 10 alleged gag order violations.

But one person Trump hasn't gone after publicly, is Pecker, the only witness to be called to the stand thus far.

Rangappa, a legal commentator and former FBI agent, said the reason she thinks Trump hasn't attacked Pecker in public comments is because "from Trump's vantage point, Pecker has a lot of power."

Pecker, who previously served as the chairman, CEO and president of American Media Inc (AMI) between 1999 and 2020, offered a half-hour testimony on Monday, right after opening arguments in the case were delivered. He returned to the stand Tuesday and is expected to continue his testimony on Thursday.

"[Pecker] can create stories (including negative and even fake ones) about HIM! So he has power/leverage; not in Trump's interest to antagonize him," Rangappa wrote in a post on X Wednesday.

During his testimony on Tuesday, Pecker confirmed that he had met with Trump and Cohen at the Trump Tower in August 2015 and that he was asked by the men "what I can do and what my magazines could do to help [Trump's 2016] campaign." AMI's biggest publication was the National Enquirer, Pecker testified Monday.

In response, the former executive agreed that he would publish positive stories about Trump and publish negative stories about Trump's political opponents. He also offered to be the "eyes and ears" of the campaign, so that if he heard any negative stories were being shopped to news outlets about Trump, he would tell Cohen, who would then make sure those stories were killed.

Prosecutors argue that the three men "orchestrated a coverup to interfere" with the 2016 presidential election by concealing negative information about Trump. Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to the alleged hush money payment that his campaign made to Daniels in the lead-up to the election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied the affair with Daniels.

Retired FBI agent David Gomez agreed with Rangappa, writing, "The two things that Trump fears most are negative publicity from a true insider, and threats to unmask his corporate fraud."

Pecker's identity had been a point of contention between the prosecution and the defense.

Last week, Trump's attorneys took issue with the fact that District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office would not give them the names of the first three witnesses they planned to call to the stand, arguing it was a common courtesy prosecutors give. But the DA's office had raised concern with Trump's attacks on Cohen and Daniels, arguing that revealing their witnesses could put those individuals at risk of facing the same criticisms from the former president.

The defense asked for just one of the three names and vowed not to share that name with Trump. The prosecution agreed to provide the name of the first witness on Sunday night but warned that if Trump tweeted about them, it would be the last time they extend that courtesy.

Pecker and Trump seem to remain friendly even though Pecker is being called as a witness for the prosecution. During a break on Tuesday, Pecker was seen flashing a big smile at the defense table on his way out of the courtroom. He also recalled having a "great relationship" with Trump over the years.