New York | The Trump trial continues its dive into the world of the tabloid press

Donald Trump returns Friday to his criminal trial in New York on hidden payments to cover up embarrassing stories, at the end of a first week of debates in the form of a dive into the world of the tabloid press.

For the fourth day, the former American president is confronted with the colorful and colorful testimony of a former tabloid boss, David Pecker, at his service during the 2015-2016 presidential campaign to “kill” possible embarrassing affairs , including an alleged relationship with a model Playboy.

The Republican presidential candidate in November has been facing the first criminal trial in history for a former president of the United States since April 15.

Before entering the courtroom, he wished his wife Melania a happy birthday in front of the cameras and once again mocked a “horrible and unconstitutional” trial. He then walked slowly, holding bundles of papers, to sit silently in the courtroom as he did every day.

The 12 jurors and their deputies passed very close to this exceptional defendant without even looking at him, according to an AFP journalist.

One of Donald Trump’s lawyers, Emil Bove, continues to subject David Pecker to intense cross-examination on Friday.

The former boss of National Enquirera celebrity tabloid with sensationalist front pages, recounted how, for $150,000, his company acquired exclusive access to the testimony of model Karen McDougal only to publish nothing and bury the story.

Crucial testimony

Donald Trump is being prosecuted for concealing in the accounts of his group, the Trump Organization, another payment of $130,000, under the guise of “legal fees”, to buy the silence of former pornographic film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.

She also claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the candidate in 2006, when he was already married to Melania Trump, which the person concerned denies.

Donald Trump’s defense invokes the legality of the payments and denies any “conspiracy” to distort the 2016 election.

David Pecker’s story is crucial for the prosecution, in order to demonstrate that a stratagem was at work to systematically suppress the scandals surrounding the candidate. The former press boss avoided criminal prosecution by collaborating with the Manhattan justice system even though Donald Trump was his “mentor” and remains “his friend”.

This affable 72-year-old man with slicked back hair said Thursday that he “bought this story” about Karen McDougal “so that it wouldn’t be published elsewhere.”

“We didn’t want it to embarrass Mr. Trump or affect his campaign” which was victorious in the 2016 presidential election.

Underlining the banality of such transactions for stars in the United States, Donald Trump’s lawyer recalled that David Pecker had already bought revelations so as not to publish them about Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tiger Woods.

“For 17 years, you informed Donald Trump about potentially negative information that could come out about him,” Emil Bove told him, which the former boss of the tabloid did not dispute.

“How is our daughter?” »

David Pecker assured that he discussed this transaction concerning Karen McDougal with candidate Trump at the time.

Once elected in November 2016, Donald Trump thanked David Pecker by receiving him at the Trump Tower in Manhattan and then at the White House and asking about the model: “How is our daughter?” “.

Already sentenced twice since the beginning of 2023 by the New York civil courts to hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, Donald Trump risks in this case the first criminal conviction of a former president of the United States.

A scenario that would push the presidential campaign and its dream of revenge against Joe Biden on November 5 into the unknown.

The trial is all the more important because it could be the only one, among the four criminal cases that threaten Donald Trump, to take place before the presidential election.

His trial, considered the most important, relating to accusations of illegal attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election, is expected to be further delayed after the Supreme Court examines the question of possible criminal immunity on Thursday.