heard testimony Tuesday from David Pecker, a former media executive who described his efforts to use the National Enquirer to bury negative stories about Trump and attack his rivals during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Todd Blanche, an attorney for Trump, argued that his client was responding to political attacks in his posts, and did not believe he was violating the order when reposting or quoting others. The judge seemed unpersuaded, but did not make a ruling immediately. Pecker said when he first learned of the story in 2015,"I immediately called Michael Cohen and described exactly what I was told." He gave Cohen the doorman's name, Dino Sajudin, and that of the maid, and asked Cohen to verify they worked at Trump Tower.
"He said, 'Thank you,' and, 'The boss will be very pleased,'" Pecker testified, later clarifying that it was apparent"the boss" was Trump. Pecker said he told Cohen that if the story was true, he would consider publishing it after the election, when it would not"embarrass the campaign." Pecker said in October 2016 that Trump introduced him to Steve Bannon, who was the chief executive of Trump's campaign. Pecker said Bannon reviewed recent articles about Hillary Clinton, then Trump's Democratic opponent in the election.Pecker said that in 2015, he received a call from Cohen, Trump's longtime personal attorney, telling him that"the boss wanted to see me."
Asked how Trump reacted, Pecker said,"As I recollect, he was pleased. Michael Cohen was pleased." He said nothing was put into writing, describing it as"an agreement among friends." He recalled that Trump's reality show"The Apprentice" was an"instant success" and led to a"great mutually beneficial relationship," in which Trump would send him details about the show to publish in the Enquirer. The relationship deepened once Trump launched"The Celebrity Apprentice."
"Highly conflicted, to put it mildly, Judge Juan Merchan, has taken away my constitutional right to free speech," Trump wrote in all-caps. Merchan said Trump had to"manipulate" a keyboard,"use the shift key" and"put it in quotes" to post Watters' statement about a potential juror. He again asked what political attack Trump was responding to, and receiving no clear example from Blanche.
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