Trump’s lawyers seek to discredit testimony of prosecution’s key witness in hush-money trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s defense team in his hush money case sought Friday to undermine the testimony of the prosecution’s star witness and his account that a tabloid’s practice of helping to bury embarrassing stories about Trump was part of a scheme to help the Republicans. Campaign 2016.

Returning to the witness stand for a fourth day, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker was questioned about his memory and previous statements as the defense tried to poke holes in potentially crucial testimony for prosecutors in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.

Pecker’s testimony has given jurors a stunning glimpse into the supermarket newspaper’s catch-and-kill practice of buying the rights to stories so they never see the light of day. It’s a crucial building block for prosecutors’ theory that Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 race by suppressing negative stories about his personal life.

Under cross-examination, Trump’s lawyers appeared to lay the groundwork for the argument that any contacts Trump had with Pecker were to protect Trump, his reputation and his family — and not his campaign.

The defense also tried to show that the tabloid published negative stories about Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, well before the August 2015 meeting between Trump, Pecker and then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Pecker said he then agreed to help Trump’s campaign.

Under questioning by Trump lawyer Emil Bove, Pecker acknowledged that the term “catch-and-kill” was not mentioned during that meeting. On behalf of Trump for the rights to their stories, Pecker said.

Bove also confronted Pecker about statements he made to federal prosecutors in 2018 that the attorney said were “contrary” to the former publisher’s testimony.

Pecker told jurors that during a 2017 visit to the White House, Trump thanked him for helping bury two stories. But according to notes Bove read in court, Pecker told federal authorities that Trump did not express any gratitude to him during the meeting.

“Was that another mistake?” Bove asked Pecker.

Pecker stood by the account he gave in court, adding: “I know what the truth is.”

As Bove concluded his cross-examination Friday afternoon, Pecker told jurors, “I’ve been honest, as far as I can remember.”

His testimony caps an important week in the criminal cases facing the former president as he battles to reclaim the White House in November.

As jurors in Manhattan listened to testimony, the Supreme Court signaled Thursday that it would likely reject Trump’s sweeping claims that he is immune from prosecution in his 2020 election interference case in Washington. But the conservative-majority Supreme Court appeared inclined to limit when former presidents could be prosecuted — a ruling that could benefit Trump by delaying that trial, possibly until after the November election.

In New York — the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial — the presumptive Republican presidential nominee faces 34 felony counts of falsifying company records in connection with hush money payments intended to prevent negative stories from appearing in the final days of the 2016 campaign to surface. .

Trump denies all allegations. Before entering the courtroom Friday, he told reporters that he believes Thursday’s proceedings went “very well” for the defense, adding that “the case should be over.”

The indictment centers on $130,000 in payments Trump’s company made to Cohen. He paid that amount on behalf of Trump to prevent porn actor Stormy Daniels from making public her claims about a sexual encounter with Trump ten years earlier. Trump has denied the meeting ever took place.

Over several days on the witness stand, Pecker described how the tabloid turned rumors into splashy stories that smeared Trump’s opponents and, just as crucially, used its connections to suppress seamy stories about Trump.

Trump’s lawyer focused on a 2018 non-prosecution agreement between the federal government and American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer.

The company admitted to engaging in the catch-and-kill practice to help Trump’s campaign, and prosecutors agreed not to prosecute the company for paying Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump. He denies the affair.

Trump’s attorney has repeatedly suggested that Pecker may have felt pressured into accepting an agreement to make a deal to sell his company to newsstand operator Hudson News Group for a proposed $100 million.

“To get that deal done, you knew you had to complete the investigation,” Bove said.

After pausing for a few seconds, Pecker replied in the affirmative. But Pecker also said he felt “no pressure” to finalize the non-prosecution agreement to complete the transaction.

Ultimately the deal fell through.

Richer reported from Washington.

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