Previously President Donald Trump recently spent time conversing with hundreds of construction workers and union members in New York City. During this meeting earlier today, he also made positive remarks about David Pecker, who is currently serving as a witness for his trial taking place in Manhattan. Specifically, the former president referred to him as “a nice guy.”
Pecker holds an important role in Trump’s current legal proceedings because he served as CEO of American Media Inc., which publishes magazines such as The National Enquirer during Pecker’s tenure. This company is known for implementing tactics called “catch and kill schemes,” where they buy the rights to a person’s story with no intention of publishing it, often in an attempt to prevent damaging information from becoming public knowledge. In this specific case against Trump, there are accusations that he falsified business records by reimbursing his former attorney Michael Cohen for $130,000 paid to Stormy Daniels as part of a deal aimed at keeping her allegedly salacious claims about an extramarital affair with the ex-president from becoming public during the 2016 election campaign. Pecker’s testimony is particularly pertinent in this matter since he first became aware that Daniels was selling rights to her story for $120,000 after a different scandal involving Trump emerged ahead of the same election cycle.
When testifying yesterday regarding his dealings with Donald Trump before and during 2016’s presidential campaign, Pecker revealed that he learned about Stormy Daniels’ claims from National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard following the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump made lewd comments. After Cohen paid Daniels to keep quiet on her alleged affair with Trump, prosecutors claim that the former president falsified business records as part of a criminal conspiracy aimed at covering up this information during his 2016 election campaign.
Simultaneously today, the Supreme Court heard arguments in another case involving Donald Trump – namely whether he has immunity from legal action for allegations surrounding efforts to interfere with or prevent electoral processes related to the Janurary 6th, 2021 riot at Capitol Hill. As Special Counsel Jack Smith’s charges against him include conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; as well as a charge related to conspiracies against rights, this is potentially a significant legal challenge for Trump. However, during his press conference today he expressed confidence in presidential immunity asserting that “if you don’t have [immunity] … You just have a ceremonial president.” Many supporters at the event shared these views with some stating simply: “We want Trump!”
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