Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testifies Donald Trump advised him to make a $150G payoff to ex-Playboy model

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified Thursday that ex-President Donald Trump advised him during a 2016 phone call to make a $150,000 payoff to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with the current presidential candidate, as he took the stand for the third day at Trump's historic Manhattan criminal trial.

Pecker, the former chairman of American Media Inc., which published the Enquirer, was preparing to make a business presentation to a group of New Jersey investors in the third week of June 2016 when an assistant told him Trump was on the phone.

“Karen is a nice girl,” Trump said during the phone call, Pecker testified at Trump's hush money trial. “Is it true that a Mexican group is trying to buy the story for $8 million?”

Pecker testified he asked Trump how he should proceed.

“I think you should buy the story and take it off the market,” Trump said, according to Pecker.

Pecker's testimony about the payment to Karen McDougal, one of three alleged “catch and kill” schemes that Trump, Pecker and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen hatched, is designed to show jurors that later Trump-authorized $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was part of a pattern of conduct by Trump to prevent his alleged affairs from hurting his prospects at winning the 2016 presidential election.

On cross-examination by Trump defense attorney Emil Bove, however, Pecker admitted he had warned Trump long before he ran for president about negative stories that were set to run and had regularly bought the rights to negative stories about celebrities as a way to gain access to them — a process dubbed “catch and kill.”

“You only published about half the stories that you purchased, right?” Bove asked.

Pecker replied: “That’s correct.”

Pecker named-dropped from the stand, testifying he had bought negative stories about a slew of big names, including golfer Tiger Woods and former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Bove also sought to undermine Pecker’s credibility by questioning his compliance with his non-prosecution agreement, which could be rescinded if he omitted facts or players in the conspiracy.

Bove asked why Pecker had never mentioned to investigators the presence of Trump aide Hope Hicks at a Trump Tower meeting, during which McDougal was discussed.

Pecker was unable to find a mention of Hicks in a transcript of an FBI interview, prompting prosecutors to object.

“He was never asked if Hicks was in the meeting,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said, calling it “improper impeachment.”

Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan agreed and cautioned Trump’s lawyer.

“It left the jury with the misimpression that he omitted something,” Merchan said, warning him not to do it again.

Prosecutors argue Trump “formed a conspiracy” with Cohen, then Trump's personal attorney and fixer, and Pecker during a meeting in August 2015 at Trump Tower to conceal negative information about Trump from becoming public.

That meeting came two months after Trump famously descended an escalator in Trump Tower and announced his candidacy for president.

Trump, the first president or ex-president to face trial on criminal charges, is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to the Daniels payment.

Trump, 77, allegedly directed Cohen, a Lawrence native, to make a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels, the adult film star whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.

Prosecutors have said the payment amounted to election fraud and it was illegally recorded as legal services as part of a retainer agreement, but the retainer did not exist and no legal services were rendered.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche has denied that Trump's actions were illegal, saying trying to influence an election is simply part of the democratic process.

Trump, after Thursday’s testimony concluded, expressed satisfaction.

“Today was breathtaking … breathtaking and amazing testimony,” Trump said in the courthouse hallway. “So this is a trial that should’ve never happened, this is a case that should’ve never been filed and was really an incredible, an incredible day. Open your eyes and we can't let this continue to happen to our country.”

Pecker, while testifying Thursday, said he refused to be part of the payment to Daniels.

“I am not purchasing this story,” Pecker said. “I am not going to be involved with a porn star.”

In another key piece of testimony, Pecker testified he knew the hush money payments to Daniels, McDougal and $30,000 to a door attendant could run afoul of campaign finance law and told Cohen about it.

Pecker had done the same in 2003 for former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was running for office, resulting in a state investigation and fines against the bodybuilder's gubernatorial campaign and American Media Inc., Pecker testified.

“It gave me reservations about buying any stories in the future,” Pecker told the jury.

Pecker's testimony offered support to the prosecution contention Trump's election team knew that hush money payments to further a political campaign had to be reported as an expenditure, a central component of the prosecution's case. Trump is charged in state court with felony counts under the novel legal theory that Trump falsified business records in furtherance of another crime — violating federal election law.

Asked by Steinglass if he understood the legal pitfalls of such an arrangement, the former publisher said he did, thanks to the Schwarzenegger campaign.

“Yes, that was the first time that I came across a political contribution and what a violation was,” Pecker said. “Based on what happened 14 years ago, I wanted to be comfortable that the agreement that we were going to arrange with Karen McDougal satisfied the requirements for a campaign contribution.”

Pecker said he left American Media in 2020, although he is still a paid consultant for the firm.

Pecker, seating just feet from the former president, said he still considered him a friend.

“I felt that Donald Trump was my mentor,” Pecker said when asked if he felt any ill will toward Trump. “He helped me throughout my career.”

When Pecker’s Boca Raton, Florida, office received anthrax-filed envelopes after 9/11 and one of his editors died from the poison, he recalled Trump was the first person to call and offer support.

“I have no ill will at all. Even though we haven’t spoken, I still consider him a friend,” said Pecker, who recalled he last spoke to Trump in 2019.

Trump, similarly, had kind words for Pecker during a campaign visit with construction works in Manhattan early Thursday morning before his trial resumed.

“He’s been very nice,” Trump said of Pecker. “He’s been nice. He’s a nice guy.”

But those comments from Trump were flagged by prosecutors, who argued to Merchan Thursday morning that Trump was continuing to disobey the gag order, preventing him from speaking publicly about witnesses in the case.

“This is a message to Pecker: Be nice,” prosecutor Christopher Conroy told Merchan, who has not yet ruled on whether Trump should be held in contempt of court for violating the gag order more than 10 times.

Pecker, while testifying, said when Trump became commander in chief he invited Pecker to a White House dinner in July 2017.

“It was a thank you dinner and he invited my wife and myself,” said Pecker, who added his wife didn't want to go to Washington, so he brought four business associates, including then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.

When Pecker and his guests arrived at the White House, they were taken to the Oval Office. They met then-White House press  secretary Sean Spicer and Trump son-in-law/presidential adviser Jared Kushner.

As they ate in a dining room with views of the Rose Garden, Trump, according to Pecker, asked: “How is Karen doing?”

Pecker said he replied: “She’s doing well, she’s quiet, everything is going good.”