Thursday marked the third day this week that former National Enquirer publisher David Packer’s testimony provided a roadmap for the prosecution’s case against former President Donald Trump.
From detailing the work invoice to establishing how closely Trump was involved from start to finish, District Attorney’s attorneys walked the jury through most of the events leading up to and after the payments to Packer to Stormy Daniels, speaking to silence about one incident. her alleged relationship with a real estate mogul.
The testimony was sprinkled with juicy celebrity gossip and revelations about Trump’s repeated inquiries about the Playboy model he claimed to be having an affair with.
After hours of discussing new details, the defense tried Thursday to portray Pecker as suffering from memory loss and acting on his own motives.
Here’s what you missed on Day 7 of Trump’s silent money trial:
Peker presents a series of events
At the heart of the prosecution’s case is the allegation that former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels to keep quiet about the alleged affair.
Peker did not make these payments. But he says he made payments to other people who promoted offensive stories about Trump. And he told jurors he had been talking to Cohen about the payments to Daniels, including asking Trump to pay Cohen back at the lawyer’s request.
Much of Packer’s testimony focused on his relationship with Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said he had a one-year affair with Trump.
Peker testified that he paid McDougal $150,000 – both for the rights to the story, which he never wanted to publish, and for writing pieces for his publications. He did so with a guarantee from Cohen, who testified that Trump would reimburse him for at least the $125,000 he estimated the rights to his story were worth.
Packer was concerned about the legality of the deals with Trump
Packer testified about new public evidence showing he is concerned about potential legal liability for paying for stories about a political candidate. That’s what made him and his lawyer decide not to ask Trump to reimburse him for the McDougal payment.
He admitted to lying to the Wall Street Journal about his company’s contract with McDougal.
“I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself, and I wanted to protect Donald Trump,” Packer said.
Peker said Trump was trying to get old boxes of research on him that the National Enquirer kept
Packer testified that Trump intended to obtain old boxes of materials and files in the possession of the National Enquirer. Cohen called his office “constantly” in September 2016 demanding they be sent, Packer said, as he tried to negotiate how the presidential candidate would pay for McDougal’s story.
In a September 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, Cohen continued to press Pecker about the boxes of National Enquirer materials Pecker had brought from Florida to New York.
Cohen told Peker that Trump was concerned about the memos and the McDougal story remaining in the National Enquirer’s control and that he “didn’t want anyone else to publish those stories if they got hit by a bus or the company was sold.”
“I’m not a bank”
Peker, who detailed how the payments to McDougal were made, told the jury he went to great lengths to make sure the rest of the newsroom didn’t find out.
Peker used Investment Advisory Services, Inc. to pay Cohen’s corporation, Decision Advisors. was planning to use a company run by a former CEO.
“I don’t want to get a check from the Trump Organization going through AMI,” Peker said. He said Cohen recommended a flat fee for “advisory services.”
“Because I think the payment is going to create a lot of problems and communicate to the editors something that I don’t want to happen,” he said.
Peker also expressed that he was tired of paying. He said Cohen was “very excited” as talks with McDougal dragged on and wanted Packer to pay.
When Daniels got around to paying, Peker said he put his foot down.
“We have already paid 30,000 dollars to the goalkeeper. We paid Karen McDougall $150,000 and I’m not the bank,” Peker testified. “We’re not paying any extra fees or money.”
Trump asked for updates on McDougal
Packer said Trump was “very upset” about a video on Radar Online, obtained by Packer’s company, depicting Trump as a “Playboy man.”
This article predated AMI’s acquisition of Radar, and it instructed editor-in-chief Dylan Howard to take it down. It also includes an audio clip of Trump.
On several occasions, including after Trump took office, he or a bodyguard asked Packer how McDougal was doing and referred to her as “our girl.”
Packer testified that he told Trump that McDougal “wrote his articles.” He is calm. During a private meeting in January 2017, he is fine.” Trump thanked him for “handling the McDougal situation and the gatekeeping situation.”
The defense tried to cast doubt on Peker’s memory, motive and prosecutors’ tactics.
Trump’s attorney, Emil Bove, cross-examined — initially suggesting that Packer’s memories of the events had been refreshed by the District Attorney’s office.
“It’s hard to remember exactly what happened almost ten years ago, isn’t it?” Bove asked.
“Yes,” Peker replied.
Bove tried to show that Packer did not tell FBI investigators that Hope Hicks was at the August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower — a detail he later testified about at trial.
Peker, who testified on cross-examination, said he learned from prosecutors the phrase “catch and kill” was used to describe the purchase of McDougal’s story with no intention of publishing it.
Bove also had Peker testify about the gossipy stories of celebrities and politicians he helped kill.
Peker described how he helped kill the “Planet Hollywood restaurant story” to help Ron Perelman, one of its biggest advertisers, through Revlon. And he made a deal with Arnold Schwarzenegger not to write negative stories about him when he ran for governor of California — in exchange for Schwarzenegger’s blessing for a “huge buyout.”
Peker witnessed Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel asking for help to suppress potentially negative stories about his brother Rahm Emanual, who had just finished serving as White House chief of staff and was running for Chicago mayor and actor Mark Wahlberg. “What Mr. Emanuel wanted was to help in a cause where Rahm Emanuel lived, right?” “Yes,” said Packer. Rahm Emanual is currently the ambassador to Japan.
Peker explained how he wanted to use Tiger Woods’ compromising photos as leverage with the golf star – getting him to pose for the cover of one of his other magazines.
The attention of the judges became less and less
Jurors began taking notes during Packer’s testimony about Daniels, who rose to prominence during the Trump presidency.
But the panel of New Yorkers preparing to try Trump in the case was less interested in Packer’s account of the accounting for the payment to the lesser-known McDougal.
Merchan did not rule on whether Trump violated the gag order
Prosecutors alleged that Trump committed four new violations in the past three days, including an early morning stop outside the JP Morgan building under construction when Trump warned Packer and others that he had a platform and was going to use it. .”
“Be good,” he said.
But Merchan has yet to rule on whether Trump violated the order in cases previously discussed when prosecutors argued that Trump “appears” to be in jail by repeatedly and knowingly violating it.