Former President Donald Trump knew that former Playboy model Karen McDougal's story about their yearlong relationship would get out, according to trial witness David Pecker.
While testifying in Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan, Pecker said that Trump told him he did not believe in buying stories because they "always get out."
Pecker, the only witness that the jury has heard from thus far, returned to the stand on Thursday for a third day of testimony in the hush money case. Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to a hush money payment that was made by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied Daniels' allegations.
Pecker is the former chairman, president and CEO of American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer. As part of an agreement that Pecker came to with Trump and Cohen in August 2015, in which Pecker would act as the "eyes and ears" of the campaign by stifling negative stories about Trump, Pecker said that he purchased the rights to a story that McDougal was shopping in 2016.
McDougal claims to have had an affair with Trump during his marriage to Melania Trump.
Pecker said that in June 2016, he received a call from Trump after Dylan Howard, the former editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, verified McDougal's story. He said that on the call he advised the candidate to buy her story because if the story was true and Trump didn't purchase the rights "it would be very embarrassing to [Trump] and his campaign."
In response, Pecker said Trump "said clearly that he doesn't buy stories because it always gets out."
Trump told Pecker he would speak to Cohen and get back to him. The next day, Cohen called Pecker and told him to "go ahead and buy this story," so Pecker asked Howard to negotiate the terms of an agreement.
When Pecker asked Cohen who would reimburse him for the payment to McDougal, Cohen told him, "Don't worry, I'm your friend. The boss will take care of it." Pecker said that he understood the comment to mean that he would "either be reimbursed by The Trump Organization or by Donald Trump."
It was ultimately agreed that AMI would pay McDougal $150,000 for her story. As part of the agreement, McDougal would also write for AMI's celebrity magazines, appear on the covers, launch a beauty product company and become a Radar Online anchor for red-carpet events. The two-year agreement took effect on August 9, 2016, and a wire transfer was sent to McDougal's attorney's escrow account.
When Cohen wanted Pecker to sign over the rights to McDougal's story, Pecker said he told Cohen that he would only bill him $125,000, retaining $25,000 for the editorial expense of having McDougal work for AMI. Pecker said after speaking with his legal counsel that he decided he did not want to be reimbursed.
"I called Michael Cohen and I said to him, 'The deal was off. I'm not going forward. It's a bad idea and I want you to rip up the agreement,'" Pecker recalled. "He was very, very angry, very upset, screaming basically at me."
"Michael Cohen said the boss is going to be very angry with you."
On November 4, 2016, the Wall Street Journal published a story about how the National Enquirer paid McDougal for her story. As a result, McDougal was bombarded by requests for interviews and her attorneys contacted Pecker to ask that he amend their agreement so she could speak to the press. Pecker agreed to do so, against Cohen's wishes.
"I felt that the Wall Street Journal article already set the stage and tone for what the story is, and I wanted to try and keep some form of control around the story," Pecker testified.
In March 2018, McDougal sat down for an interview with CNN journalist Anderson Cooper. The interview prompted Trump to call Pecker and ask how McDougal was able to speak with Cooper if there was an agreement in place. Pecker informed Trump that it was amended, which made Trump "very upset."
McDougal eventually filed a lawsuit against AMI, and Pecker agreed to settle and give her back her lifetime rights to the story.
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Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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