VOA News | Friday, April 26, 2024 
Tabloid publisher answering more questions at Trump’s trial

Former tabloid publisher David Pecker is back on the witness stand for a fourth day Friday at Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial, set to answer more questions about how he came to pay $150,000 for the rights to a Playboy model’s claim of a monthslong affair with the future president. Pecker on Thursday told the 12-member jury that he believed Karen McDougal’s story of a liaison with Trump even though he has denied it. Pecker testified that Trump wanted to keep the information from voters ahead of his successful 2016 run for the White House, and that Trump did not say he was looking to hide the news from his wife, Melania Trump, or eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump. “It wasn’t ‘What would Melania say, or Ivanka?’” Pecker testified at the first-ever trial of a former U.S. president. “It was basically [about] what the impact would be to the campaign and the election.” At one point, Pecker said Trump asked him, “What should I do?” Pecker said he told Trump he should “buy the story and take it off the market,” but the tabloid ended up doing it for him. Pecker said the tabloid expected to get reimbursed but never was. Under cross-examination from Trump defense lawyer Emil Bove, Pecker testified that his grocery store newspaper, The National Enquirer, routinely bought embarrassing stories about celebrities like Trump to…Read more