On Thursday, Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, described his own involvement in the suppression of the stories of two women who claimed to have had sex with Trump: Karen McDougal, a Playboy model, and Stormy Daniels, the porn actor whose 2016 hush-money payoff is at the root of the prosecution’s case.
Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying 34 business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to Daniels, who has said they had a sexual encounter in 2006 and was shopping that story in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, the first American president to face criminal trial, has denied the accusations and the sexual encounter with Daniels.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has accused Trump of falsifying business records when he reimbursed his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the payment. If convicted, Trump could receive probation, or up to four years in prison.
This may be the only trial Trump faces before Election Day. His three other criminal cases are delayed, including one in Washington, where he is accused of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss. On Thursday, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether Trump should be immune from prosecution for acts he committed while president. The court’s conservative majority seemed poised to narrow the scope of the case, which could make it hard to conduct the trial before the 2024 election.Trump has injected an element of menace into his Manhattan case, attacking both witnesses and the jury, which prosecutors say could put them in danger. The prosecution argued Thursday that Trump had violated a gag order in the case four more times, bringing the number of alleged violations to 15. They have asked the judge presiding over the trial, Juan M. Merchan, to hold Trump in contempt, but he has not yet ruled on the matter.This article originally appeared in The New York Times
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