8 mins ago
In subsequent conversations, Mr. Cohen asked Mr. Pecker to purchase the story a number of times. Mr. Pecker refused each time, telling him he would not be involved with a porn star and was not paying any more monies after the two other stories.
He said Mr. Cohen was upset, and told him that “the boss would be furious” at Mr. Pecker.
Mr. Pecker said he found out later that Mr. Cohen had continued discussing with Mr. Howard about purchasing the story, and he was not pleased, because he told Mr. Howard to stay out of it.
21 mins ago
Mr. Pecker said he had never communicated with Stephanie Clifford, better known by her adult film stage name Stormy Daniels.
He said he was having dinner with his wife when he received an urgent call from Mr. Howard, who said two of his best sources, Mr. Davidson and an agent for celebrities, had come to him about Ms. Clifford wanting to sell a story about a sexual relationship with Donald Trump.
Mr. Howard said they could acquire the story for $120,000 if they made the decision “right now.”
34 mins ago
The judge asked if Mr. Pecker’s testimony would conclude today. Both the prosecution and defense said no, there is a long way to go.
Mr. Pecker continued his testimony by describing the infamous Access Hollywood tape.
“It was very embarrassing, very damaging to the campaign,” Mr. Pecker said. He added that Mr. Cohen told him as much and said that “everybody was concerned about what impact it would have.”
39 mins ago
Proseuctors sought to admit several texts into evidence arguing that statements of future intent are an exception to the hearsay rule. They included texts by Mr. Howard to a relative saying “at least if he wins I’ll be pardoned for electorial fraud.”
Mr. Bove argued this was the first time the government was making these arguments and that the texts contain “very substantial factual assertions” that they objected to.
Justice Merchan said he was excluding the texts for the time being but would read over the cases the government cited. He said that even though the texts came from an American Media phone, they were not business records but a private conversation between relatives that the defense would not be able to cross examine.
54 mins ago
Court resumed with attorneys conferring with the judge over portions of an exhibit prosecutors seek to admit into evidence. The defense requested some redactions, and argued there was no foundation to name Barry Levine of American Media as a member of a conspirator. Prosecutors said they wanted to admit the email as evidence as Mr. Howard pursued negotiations as part of his job responsibility, not for truth of the content.
“We have more than established prima facie conspiracy to prevent election by unlawful means,” Mr. Steinglass argued. “We’ve elicited sufficient testimony to conclude prima facie that Dylan Howard is a member of the conspiracy.”
Justice Merchan said he agreed Mr. Howard was a co-conspirator and asked how difficult it would be to redact portions of it. Mr. Steinglass argued they believed it was admissible for context.
1 hour ago
Mr. Pecker said even though the contract was signed they never executed it.
He called Mr. Cohen to say he wasn’t going forward with it, the deal was off, and that “it’s a bad idea and I want you to rip up the agreement.”
Mr. Cohen was “very, very angry,” Mr. Pecker said. “very upset, screaming, basically, at me.”
1 hour ago
Mr. Pecker said his publications sometimes had big disbursements for flying a celebrity out for an interview or things like that, and he had a consultant, a former longtime employee, he worked with on these. Mr. Pecker said he had had “some pretty difficult experiences” such as the payroll being leaked and top executive salaries being published on the front page of the Palm Beach Post.
“So I called David and said, I don’t want a check from the Trump Organization going through American Media, so I’d like you to reach out to Michael Cohen whereby you can bill him for $125,000 and reimburse American Media,” Mr. Pecker said. That invoice was submitted into evidence.
“Jurors, this document has been accepted into evidence, not for the truth of what it says, evidence that this invoice was created,” Justice Merchan said.
1 hour ago
Mr. Pecker affirmed that the purpose of purchasing the story was to keep it from influencing the election when prosecutors asked, leading to a sidebar with the judge.
Attorney Joshua Steinglass rephrased the question, asking whether Mr. Pecker was aware that expenditures aimed at influencing an election were unlawful.
“Yes,” Mr. Pecker said.
1 hour ago
“It was a difficult situation and it gave me sensitivity about buying any stories in the future. So that’s how I became sensitive about this topic,” Mr. Pecker said.
So when he was preparing to do a deal with Ms. McDougal, Mr. Pecker said he consulted with a campaign attorney to make sure the contract was “bulletproof.”
It was a two year agreement with columns in several of Mr. Pecker’s publications, a ghostwriter, and approval over any photos used of her, and life rights to her story about Donald Trump.
2 hours ago
Mr. Pecker said between 2002 and 2003, he acquired a story for Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was running for governor of California.
Joel Weider’s magazines Muscle and Flex were up for sale and Mr. Pecker was acquiring them. Mr. Weider had a decades-long relationship with Mr. Schwarzenegger and said before they finalized the transaction the two of them had to meet.
Mr. Schwarzenegger told Mr. Pecker that he had some 70 or 80 lawsuits against his tabloids the Globe and National Enquirer, because they always ran negative stories about him.
2 hours ago
Mr. Howard returned with terms: Ms. McDougal had agreed to: $150,000 for lifetime rights to the story, Mr. Pecker said. The model wanted to “restart her career;” she wanted to write for celebrity magazines and get on health and fitness covers, and launch a clothing line and beauty product company, and be an anchor for red carpet events.
They spoke for a long time, and “Michael was very agitated, why is this taking so long, why didn’t you buy the story yet, why didn’t you finish the agreement,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Pecker asked again who should pay the $150,000, and Mr. Cohen said Mr. Pecker should. Mr. Pecker reminded him he had just paid $30,000 for the Dino Sajudin story. He said he didn’t have a problem with letting her write for his magazines or be on covers, but wanted reimbursement for the $150,000.
2 hours ago
Mr. Pecker said in the third week of June 2016, he was making a presentation at his investor’s meeting when he got a call from Donald Trump, who said he had been told by Mr. Cohen that a Mexican group was going to buy the story for $8 million. Mr. Pecker said he absolutely did not believe that.
“He said, what do you think I should do? I said, you should buy the story and take it off the market,” Mr. Pecker said.
Mr. Trump had said Ms. McDougal was “a nice girl,” and so Mr. Pecker believed the story was true, he said.
2 hours ago
The judge did not issue a ruling on the new violation allegations.
Mr. Pecker continued his testimony about the deal with Karen McDougal, former Playboy model who alleged a year-long affair with Donald Trump.
Mr. Pecker said his chief content officer Dylan Howard believed the story could be true, but that Ms. McDougal had no corroborating evidence like phone messages, photos, or expense reports. Mr. Howard offered $10,000 to buy the story and was refused.
2 hours ago
The parties conferred with the judge before the jurors were brought in.
The defense said they’d come to an agreement with the government on evidence that had been objected to, but prosecutors said they had new evidence to cite of President Trump giving remarks outside the courtroom, in which he referred to payments to Michael Cohen as legal expenses.
He also gave a news interview where he said the judge was “rushing the trial like crazy” and said the jury pool was “95 percent Democrat.”
2 hours ago
“In the meantime I’m at this trial, my constitutional rights have been taken from me,” President Trump said.
“I think the Supreme Court has a very important argument before it today. I would have loved to have been there but the schedule would not allow for it,” he said. “I should be there, but he wouldn’t allow it. I think he puts himself above the Supreme Court, which is unfortunate.”
He said presidential immunity needed to be preserved.
3 hours ago
President Trump commented on the economy before heading into the courtroom, referring to the news on the GDP and rising prices.
“This is Bidenomics … and it’s catching up before he leaves office,” he said. He added that other countries were losing respect for the United States and if the dollar loses its place as the standard “that’ll be like losing the biggest war we’ve ever lost, and it’s a shame but it’s all the way down to 1.6 and nobody thought that would be possible.”
President Trump said he met with construction workers that morning, unionized and not, and they “showed great support.” He announced rallies in New York to honor the police and fire officers, and teachers.
19 hours ago
Former President Donald Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying 34 business records in a scheme to suppress negative news stories during the 2016 election cycle.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office kicked things off last week with accusations that President Trump violated his gag order at least 10 times in social media posts. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan heard arguments on the allegations on April 23, and said he would reserve his decision.
David Pecker, former head of American Media Inc. and publisher of the National Enquirer, was the first to testify this week. His direct examination by prosecutors will continue.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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