A key witness in the criminal trial of Donald Trump detailed Thursday how he worked with the former president’s personal lawyer to kill a Playboy model’s story about a sexual relationship with the Republican.Pecker explained previously how formulating the plan — an “agreement among friends” — went down at an August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower with Trump, Cohen and Trump’s personal assistant Hope Hicks.
He said National Enquirer readers “loved” Trump, who starred in the hit reality television series “The Apprentice” and its star-studded spinoff before going into politics in 2015.
Trump’s own celebrity coupled with his presidential bid would be a boon for the magazine’s sales when it ran positive stories on him, Pecker said, while suppressing negative coverage would simultaneously help the aspiring president.
As a real estate scion making a name for himself in 1980s and 90s Manhattan, Trump relied heavily on tabloids to grease his ascent to celebrity.
The testimony has thrown into relief how gossip mags could now play a key role in his fate.
Trump has appeared increasingly disgruntled, angry even, as he’s forced to sit silently under the glaring fluorescent lights of the courtroom and listen to both prosecutors and Pecker deliver accounts of his alleged misdeeds.
He has also borne witness to Judge Juan Merchan admonishing the former president’s lead lawyer Todd Blanche, who blustered through his defense of the Republican as prosecutors asked to hold him in contempt of court.
They say Trump has repeatedly violated a partial gag order barring him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors and court staff.
“You’re losing all credibility with the court,” Merchan told Blanche as the defense attorney sidestepped the judge’s questions regarding the accusations.
Merchan heard arguments over the accusation Tuesday but did not issue an immediate ruling, which he could drop at any moment.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and Cohen are both expected to appear as prosecution witnesses at the trial.
Trump has repeatedly attacked them on Truth Social, calling them, for example, “sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our country dearly.”
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