“He was not President Trump,” the prosecutor objects to the defense that Trump was named president in 2016

Bove asks Pecker about the negative stories about Trump’s primary opponents in the National Enquirer.

Bove confirmed with Pecker that it is “standard procedure” for the National Enquirer to recycle content from other outlets.

Bove shows the jury five headlines about Ben Carson, a piece of evidence prosecutors used earlier in the week

Bove wonders whether Pecker would have done it without talking to Trump. “Yes,” Pecker agrees.

Bove confirmed with Pecker that other media outlets covered malpractice claims against Carson in May 2015, months before the Trump Tower meeting.

More context: The defense has tried to poke holes in the testimony of Pecker, the prosecution’s first witness, about his tabloid’s catch-and-kill methods to suppress negative stories about Trump that could have hurt his 2016 campaign.

The former president has been charged with participating in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and with an unlawful scheme to suppress negative information, including a hush money payment to an adult film star to cover up an affair. Trump has denied the affair.