Benzinga - by Chris Katje, Benzinga Staff Writer.
David Pecker, former head of the National Enquirer, testified Tuesday about his role in purchasing and suppressing stories to benefit Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, revealing details of his frequent communications with Trump and an unwritten agreement to publish favorable coverage of him while targeting his political opponents.
What Happened: During testimony Tuesday, Pecker shared details of the process of the National Enquirer buying stories related to Trump.
Pecker said he previously bought stories from Trump based on "The Apprentice" in what he called a mutually beneficial relationship, NBC News reported.
The media mogul said interest in Trump "skyrocketed" after the success of "The Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice."
Pecker said he previously spoke monthly or quarterly with Trump, and in some cases it was more frequent, depending on how much the former president was in the news. When Trump announced he was running for president in 2015, the two met more frequently.
Testimony about a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower between Trump, his former lawyer Michael Cohen and Pecker was a key part of the court proceedings on Tuesday.
"Thinking about it as I did previously, I said what I would do is I would run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump, and I would publish negative stories about his opponents," Pecker said.
The agreement was never put into writing, but was rather an agreement between friends, Pecker said Tuesday. Pecker added that running stories that were negative on the Clinton family often did well and pleased Cohen and Trump.
Pecker also said Cohen directed him to target certain 2016 presidential candidates with stories. This included running a story about 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz.
The media mogul said that it was common for women to sell stories to the National Enquirer or to other outlets. Stories about Trump or the 2016 election had to be brought to Pecker at the time, according to company rules he put in place.
Stories then were sent from Pecker to Cohen to be vetted.
One story that was brought up in court Tuesday was one from Dino Sajudin, a doorman at Trump Tower. The doorman tried to sell a story about an illegitimate child from Trump and a maid who worked in the building.
Pecker recalled calling Cohen on the story who said it was not true. Pecker bought the story for $30,000 to make sure another publisher didn't get their hands on it.
"I made the decision to buy the story because of the potential embarrassment to the campaign and Mr. Trump."
Pecker said he didn't publish the story until after the 2016 presidential election based on a request from Cohen.
Pecker also said that a poll run by the National Enquirer saying 80% of readers wanted Trump to run for president was later cited by the former president as part of his reasoning for running.
Related Link: Trump Hush Money Trial Has 12 Jurors: Here Are The 7 Men, 5 Women To Decide Former President’s Fate
What's Next: Another key part of the testimony by Pecker was of a story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal alleging an affair with Trump.
Pecker also told the court that he spoke more often with Cohen after the McDougal story began circulating. Cohen instructed Pecker not to talk on a landline and to use messaging app Signal, where messages are automatically destroyed, Pecker recalled.
This happened at the end of Tuesday's session and will likely carry over into Thursday when the trial resumes.
On Tuesday morning ahead of testimony, Judge Juan Merchan heard from the prosecution and defense about a potential violation of a gag order imposed on Trump before the trial.
Merchan said he would "reserve a decision" on if Trump violated the gag order with posts on social media.
Speaking to media after the trial Tuesday, Trump said that Merchan has taken away his "constitutional right to free speech" with the gag order.
"This is a kangaroo court," Trump said on social media Tuesday.
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