Trump trial live updates as defense team questions first witness
David Pecker is ending his week where he began: on the stand in former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial.
The former National Enquirer publisher was the first witness called to the stand after opening statements Monday. During hours of testimony over three days, Pecker described a scheme in which he agreed to spend tens of thousands of dollars to purchase the rights to stories that might embarrass Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign in order to keep them from being made public, a process known as “catch and kill.”
On Thursday, Pecker said that arrangement led him to pay $150,000 to the model Karen McDougal, who claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2006. Trump denies that relationship.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges relate to reimbursements to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who paid adult film star Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim of a sexual encounter with Trump days before the 2016 election. Trump denies her account as well.
Trump’s defense team got their first chance to question Pecker after the prosecution wrapped up on Thursday. The former media executive returned to the stand to continue cross-examination on Friday.