Trump trial: 1st week of testimony ends with testimony from Cohen's former banker

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker described the very first story he "caught and killed" pursuant to his agreement with Donald Trump and his then-attorney Michael Cohen: a false story from a Trump World Tower doorman in 2015.

Trump, sitting at the defense table, shook his head when Pecker laid out the allegation: that "Donald Trump fathered an illegitimate girl with a maid at Trump Tower."

Pecker testified that he "immediately called Michael Cohen" when his team got wind of those allegations being shopped by the doorman, Dino Sajudin. Cohen told him it was "absolutely not true" -- but Pecker testified he ultimately moved forward with buying the story to the tune of $30,000.

"This could be a very big story. I believe that it's important that it should be removed from the market," Pecker said he told Cohen.

Asked about Cohen's response, Pecker said: "He said the boss would be very pleased," saying he understood "the boss" to mean Donald Trump.

Pecker testified that Cohen later called back to say the story is "absolutely not true" and that Trump "would take a DNA test" -- an apparently new revelation -- but Pecker said it wouldn't be necessary.

Pecker conceded that if the story turned out to be true, it "probably would be the biggest sale" for the paper since the death of Elvis Presley.

Still, Pecker testified he would have held it until after the campaign was over.

"I would have published it after the election," Pecker said. "That was the conversation I had with Michael Cohen, and that's what we agreed to."

Ultimately, the story turned out to be untrue -- but Pecker still paid for it.

"Why are you paying $30,000 for an untrue story?" prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked while displaying the contract Pecker had with Sajudan to the jury.

"Because if the story got out to another publication, it would have been embarrassing for the campaign," Pecker said.

"So this was a way to lock it up?" Steinglass asked.

"That's correct," Pecker responded.

Donald Trump introduced David Pecker to Steve Bannon to strategize future stories about Trump's opponents, the former National Enquirer publisher testified.

"[Trump] thought both of us could work very well together," Pecker said of Bannon, who would go on to become chief strategist in the Trump White House.

Pecker said Bannon liked some of the National Enquirer's past coverage and had ideas for the future.

"He liked them very much. He had some other ideas," Pecker said, mentioning a proposed plan to book one of Pecker's reporters on Sean Hannity's Fox News show to talk about the National Enquirer's reporting about Hillary Clinton.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's "secret arrangement" with Donald Trump and his then-attorney Michael Cohen was hatched during a "20-25 minute meeting" at Trump Tower in August of 2015, Pecker testified.

Under the arrangement, the National Enquirer would become a trumpet for Trump's presidential ambition and a megaphone for Michael Cohen's opposition research on Trump's opponents, he said.

"He would send me information about Ted Cruz or Ben Carson or Marco Rubio, and that was the basis for our story, and we would embellish," Pecker testified.

He said that he kept the arrangement from all but his top people.

"I told them we were going to try and help the campaign, and to do that we would keep it as quiet as possible," Pecker recalled telling his East and West Coast bureau chiefs.

Prosecutors showed the jury a collection of Enquirer headlines that lauded Trump and disparaged his opponents.

"Bungling Surgeon Ben Carson Left Sponge in Patient's Brain," one article said. "Donald Trump blasts Ted Cruz's Dad for Photo with JFK Assassin," said another, recounting classic fare from the 2016 campaign.

"After the Republican debates and based on the success that some of the other candidates had, I would receive a call from Michael Cohen and he would direct me and direct Dylan Howard which candidate and which direction we should go," Pecker said, referring to the National Enquirer's chief content officer.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that he suspected that multiple women would come forward to shop stories about Trump during Trump's run for president.

"In a presidential campaign, I was the person that thought there would be a lot of women who came out to sell their stories because Mr. Trump was well known as the most eligible bachelor and dated the most beautiful woman," Pecker testified. "It is very common for these women to call up a magazine like the National Enquirer to try and sell their stories. I would hear it in the marketplace through other sources that stories were being marketed."

If those stories emerged, Pecker said he vowed that he would notify Michael Cohen, Trump's then-personal attorney, per their agreement.

According to Pecker, most elements of their agreement -- including running positive stories about Trump and negative stories about his opponents -- were "mutually beneficial" to Trump and Pecker.

"Hillary running for president and Bill Clinton's womanizing was one of the biggest sales ... for the National Enquirer," Pecker said. " It was easy for me to say I was going to continue running those kinds of stories for the National Enquirer."

"It would help his campaign, but it would also help me," Pecker said.

"As I recollect, [Trump] was pleased. Michael Cohen was pleased [about] the way I was going to handle these issues," Pecker said.

Pecker said that prior to the 2016 election, his magazines never caught and killed any stories for Trump.

When pressed by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, Pecker acknowledged that the catch-and-kill element of the agreement -- buying negative information about Trump then killing the story -- was not beneficial for the National Enquirer.

"How was that going to boost sales of the National Enquirer?" Steinglass asked.

"No, that part didn't help," Pecker said.