Thread by @stewartbishop

Hello hello, back again at the hush money trial of Donald Trump. As @frankrunyeon mentioned yesterday, we're either wrapping up the first week or the second week of trial, depending if you count jury selection or not. I guess I'm inclined to think it's the latter? Idk.

Anyway, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker is slated to retake the witness stand this morning, still on cross.

Previously, Pecker, who is not facing charges, testified about an August 2015 meeting he had with Trump and his former attorney Michael Cohen, in which they hatched a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election by keeping damaging information about Trump out of the public eye.

Pecker testified that he agreed to publish positive stories about Trump and negative stories about his political opponents.

Before we get to Pecker, NY Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan is expected to tell jurors that Trump attorney Emil Bove went too far yesterday in his questioning about Pecker's meetings with the feds, and the judge thinks the jury may have been misled. Or something like that.

Hallway pool reporter @benfeuerherd says Trump aide Jason Miller informed them that Trump intends to address the press before making his way into the courtroom.

@benfeuerherd Trump and his attorneys have arrived in the courtroom. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has taken the bench and the trial is about to get underway.

@benfeuerherd Trump did indeed speak to the press, while ignoring questions. Apparently, today is his wife Melania’s birthday. Trump says he’s returning to Florida to see her tonight.

@benfeuerherd Once again, Trump says the courthouse is freezing, on purpose he suspects.

“I think we have a judge who won’t ever allow this case to be over in a positive way. He’s highly conflicted, the most highly conflicted judge I’ve ever seen,” Trump says.

@benfeuerherd I thought Justice Arthur Engoron had that title, but apparently he’s been dethroned.

When the jury arrives, Justice Merchan gives an instruction in connection with Bove’s questioning of Pecker yesterday. The judge says that there’s nothing improper about a witness talking to prosecutors before they take the stand.

Pecker retakes the stand. Bove is asking him about hit pieces the National Enquirer published about Trump's opponents ahead of the 2016 election. We're shown a number of such articles about presidential candidate Ben Carson as well as Fla. Sen Marco Rubio.

One claims Rubio has a "love child."

Pecker confirms that the National Enquirer often just “recycled” information from other news publications.

Bove turns to model Karen McDougal, who was paid $150,000 by AMI for the rights to her story about a months-long affair with Trump, while he was married.

Pecker is asked about a June 2016 phone call with Trump where she was discussed.

Pecker says Trump asked if it was true that there was a Mexican group that wanted to buy McDougal’s story for $8 million. Pecker said no way.

“I said that this story about Karen, since she’s claiming she had a relationship with you, should be taken off the market,” Pecker says.

According to the tabloid exec, Trump said he normally doesn’t buy stories, since word always gets out anyway.

Seems like he's right about that.

Bove turns to Stormy Daniels. He asks Pecker about his testimony yesterday in regards to her alleged affair with Trump. Pecker made clear that he wanted nothing to do with her story.

Pecker today confirms that he was irritated with National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard, who he thought was too involved in the Daniels matter.

By that point, AMI was out $180,000 for its payments to McDougal and a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed Trump fathered a child with his former housekeeper.

Pecker testified yesterday that he refused Michael Cohen when he suggested that AMI should buy Daniels’ story.

“I’m not a bank,” Pecker said at the time.

Bove today has been trying to trip Pecker up on his recollection of events and whether his testimony now squares with what he told the feds and the DA in the past. It's a classic cross technique. You try to make the witness appear less credible since their story changed over time

Following a mid-morning break, Bove asks Pecker about the 2018 non-prosecution agreement that AMI inked with the feds. That deal was over the $150,000 paid to McDougal, which the government says was a campaign finance violation, since it was made to influence the election.

Bove asks Pecker about his testimony yesterday when he said that AMI admitted to a campaign violation. Bove gets Pecker to agree there’s no admission to a campaign violation in the deal.

That’s a little misleading. As part of the deal, AMI agrees that a so-called statement of facts is true. That doc spells out the misconduct, including that AMI never reported the $150,000 McDougal payment to the Federal Election Commission.

"AMI knew that corporations such as AMI are subject to federal campaign finance laws, and that expenditures by corporations, made for purposes of
influencing an election and in coordination with or at the request of a candidate or campaign, are
unlawful," statement of facts says.

"At no time did AMI report to the Federal Election Commission that it had made the
$150,000 payment to the model," the doc says.

Bove asks Pecker about the 2015 meeting at Trump Tower with Trump, Cohen and Pecker, where prosecutors say a plan was hatched to influence the election by keeping damaging info about Trump out of the public eye.

Bove tries to get Pecker to confirm that there was no "financial component” to that meeting.

Pecker says they talked about him being the “eyes and ears” of the campaign, and that he would notify Cohen of any women who were shopping their stories around.

“I would notify Cohen that they would be available and someone would either have to buy them to take them off the market or kill them in some manner,” Pecker says.

In response to questions about the accuracy of Pecker's testimony, he says he's been truthful to the best of his recollection.

Bove steps down. ADA Josh Steinglass is back up for redirect.

Steinglass points out that the statement of facts says that AMI’s principal purpose in locking up the Karen McDougal story was to influence the election.

Pecker says that’s true.

Steinglass brings up Karen McDougal’s contract with AMI. Pecker agrees it was a standard form used by company. The jury is shown an amendment to the agreement, which would extend the life of the agreement forever.

Pecker said that was Michael Cohen’s idea.

McDougal sued AMI in March 2018 to get out of the contract, which she did.