Former National Enquirer Publisher David Pecker Details “Catch And Kill” Strategy To Save Donald Trump From Potentially Damaging Stories — Update

deadline.com:

UPDATE: National Enquirer Publisher David Pecker, on the witness stand today in Donald Trump‘s hush money trial, detailed the tens of thousands of dollars the tabloid shelled out to “catch and kill” potentially embarrassing stories during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

Pecker, who counted Trump as a friend and an asset, told jurors of paying $30,000 to bury an “untrue” claim that The Apprentice host had fathered a child out of wedlock.

Pecker made clear to jurors that the purpose of the payment was to protect Trump and his 2016 GOP presidential campaign from “potential embarrassment.” With Trump looking on, the former CEO of National Enquirer parent company American Media (AMI), testified that in 2016 he bought exclusive rights to — and then killed — the story being shopped by a Trump Tower doorman in New York who claimed the real estate mogul had a child with his housekeeper.

Pecker said that when he told Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, of the deal, Cohen replied, “The boss will be very pleased.” It was the first of three times in 2016 that Pecker would employ a “catch and kill” strategy to contain stories that could have been politically damaging to Trump, according to prosecutors.