Prosecutors say former president’s ally David Pecker was integral to catch-and-kill efforts at heart of New York criminal case
Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial in Manhattan resumes on Tuesday morning with additional testimony from David Pecker, the ex-president’s longtime ally and former publisher of the National Enquirer – whom prosecutors contend was integral in illicit catch-and-kill efforts. Before Pecker is expected to return to the stand, judge Juan Merchan will hold a hearing on prosecutors’ push to hold Trump in contempt for apparent repeated violations of a gag order barring him from publicly slamming witnesses in the trial.
Pecker first took the stand on Monday and provided brief testimony of his work as a tabloid honcho. “We used checkbook journalism and we paid for stories. I gave a number to the editors that they could not spend more than $10,000 to investigate or produce or publish a story, anything over $10,000 they would spend on a story, they would have to be vetted and brought up to me, for approval.”
