MANHATTAN (CN) — Donald Trump’s defense attorneys on Friday tried to unravel the testimony of a former tabloid CEO who told a Manhattan court that Trump went to great lengths to cover up rumors of his past love affairs during his first presidential run.
David Pecker, who ran the former parent company to the National Enquirer, so far has given prosecutors exactly what they want. He testified on direct examination that Trump colluded with him in a “catch and kill” scheme designed to aid Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign by shielding his scandals from the public.
On cross examination, Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove looked to distance Pecker and Trump’s relationship from the presidential campaign. He did so not by grandly refuting Pecker’s basic account, but instead by poking small holes in his testimony to stoke doubt among the 12 Manhattan jurors.
He prodded at Pecker’s memory on Thursday.
“When you are remembering about conversations that you had, it’s hard to remember what people said almost 10 years ago, correct?” Bove asked.
Pecker agreed, albeit with some hesitation.
On Friday, Bove picked up where he left off, getting Pecker to acknowledge slight inconsistencies in his testimony, most of which concerned meetings and conversations that took place nearly a decade ago.
Bove questioned Pecker’s relationship with Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-lawyer who prosecutors claim facilitated hush-money payments. The attorney asked Pecker about a number of interactions he had with Cohen that were not at Trump’s direction — an apparent attempt to distance Trump from Cohen’s actions.
Pecker testified that Cohen asked him to send paparazzi to a meeting he was having with billionaire Mark Cuban, so that Trump would be jealous after snubbing Cohen for a spot in his administration.
The goal was to “put pressure on President Trump to treat Cohen differently,” Bove said, and Pecker agreed.
Bove also attempted to normalize the relationship between Trump and Pecker. He got Pecker to discuss his past ties with other celebrities, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, for whom Pecker said he helped suppress negative coverage.
But on redirect, prosecutors suggested that his relationship with Trump was different because Pecker agreed to help Trump's presidential campaign directly.
“In this case, did you suppress the stories to help a presidential campaign?” asked prosecutor Joshua Steinglass.
“Yes,” Pecker replied, agreeing that he did so “in coordination with Mr. Trump’s campaign.”
Trump is standing trial on charges that he falsified business records to cover up the hush-money scheme, which prosecutors say was an attempt by the former president to influence the 2016 election.
After Pecker stepped off the stand on Friday, prosecutors called two more witnesses, who delivered dull but substantive testimonies explaining documents that directly linked Trump to the supposed hush-money payments.
One was Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime executive assistant, who testified that she created contacts for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels — two of the women Trump is being accused of paying off — in Trump’s Outlook address book.
In her brief testimony she reminisced fondly on her time working with Trump.
“It was a very stimulating, exciting, just a fascinating place to be,” she said.
Her time on the stand ended awkwardly, though, when Trump stood up to greet her as she tried to exit the courtroom. They seemed to exchange pleasantries before court officers cut the interaction short.
Next up was Gary Farro, a former managing director at First Republic Bank, who told the court he was assigned Michael Cohen as a client because he specialized in handling “individuals that were a little challenging.”
Farro said that Cohen asked him to set up an account for his shell company “Resolution Consultants LLC,” which he was using to facilitate payments to McDougal.
“It was my understanding that it was a real estate consulting company,” Farro said of the business.
But when Cohen apparently hit a snag with the McDougal deal, he asked for a new account instead under the name Essential Consultants LLC, another shell company, which he ended up using to pay Daniels.
Cohen communicated with Farro using his Trump Organization email address and frequently boasted about his connection to Trump because “he was very excited to be working for him,” Farro testified.
Prosecutors hope these details will convince jurors that Cohen, despite paying Daniels out of his own pocket, did so on behalf of Trump and his campaign.
Trump, who last year pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records, has been in court for every day of the trial so far — customary for a criminal defendant, even if they happen to be a former president.
He has used the immense media presence at the trial to deliver makeshift press conferences to the news cameras stationed outside of the courtroom, using the platform to attack his political opponents and the merits of the case.
On Friday, Trump wished his wife Melania a happy birthday, challenged Joe Biden to a debate at the courthouse and complained about the temperature of the courtroom.
“It’s very cold in there, for one purpose,” Trump said. “They don’t seem to be able to get the temperature up. It shouldn’t be that complicated. We have a freezing courthouse and that’s fine, it’s just fine.”
Trial will resume on Tuesday, when Farro is expected to take the stand and resume testifying.
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