Pecker says 'family was never mentioned' as reason for killing stories
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker concluded his morning testimony by answering questions about what he perceived to be Trump's motivation to silence negative and salacious stories about him.
"I thought it was for the campaign," Pecker said. "His family was never mentioned."
Pecker added that Trump's motivation for killing stories appeared to change once he announced his run for the presidency.
"Prior to the election, if a negative story was coming out with respect to Donald Trump and we spoke about it, he was concerned about Melania Trump and Ivanka, what the family might hear or say about it, whether it was true or not," Pecker said.
Things changed when Trump changed from a businessman to a politician, Pecker said.
"I didn't hear or discuss that it was what Melania [would] say or what Ivanka would say or what his family would say, but the impact it would have upon the election," Pecker said, before court recessed for the afternoon break.
![PHOTO: Former U.S. President Trump's criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records continues in New York.](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/6dac163a-0d9f-4492-8d13-ed235844e20a/donald-trump-20-rt-gmh-240425_1714068047970_hpEmbed_3x2.jpg)
As Trump left the courtroom for the lunch break, a reporter shouted a question: "Do you still like Pecker?" They did not get a response.
Pecker's testimony is scheduled to resume following the break.