Trump trial: 1st week of testimony ends with testimony from Michael Cohen's former banker
Banker Gary Farro testified in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York.
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Top headlines:
- Banker says he set up LLC, which Cohen used to pay Daniels
- 'Thank you for handling' McDougal, Pecker says Trump told him
- 'This story is true,' Pecker recounts being told of Stormy Daniels
- Pecker describes $150,000 negotiations for McDougal's story
- Secret Service has plans if Trump is confined for contempt: Sources
What to know about the hush money case
READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about the historic case.
Pecker tells defense that killing stories is 'standard' procedure
Former President Trump's attorney Emil Bove began his cross-examination of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker by seeking to painting Pecker and Trump's "mutually beneficially" relationship as one that had nothing to do with the election but rather had been underway for years under a "standard operating procedure."
"Seventeen years of providing President Trump with a heads-up about potentially negative publicity?" Bove asked Pecker.
"That's correct," Pecker said.
Bove asked Pecker about the first time he ever provided Trump with information -- which Pecker testified was in the 1990s and related to a negative story about Marla Maples, Trump's ex-wife.
"Fair to say that predated the Trump Tower meeting by a long time?" Bove asked of Pecker and Trump's relationship.
"Yes," Pecker said.
"A lot of interactions?" Bove asked.
"Yes," Pecker responded.
Pecker also testified about buying and suppressing stories for other individuals, such as one for former Rep. Rahm Emanuel for $20,000.
Bove also sought to show that kind of relationship between publishers and politicians was normal, saying there was "nothing wrong about" it.
"You are aware many politicians work with the media to try to promote their image?" Bove asked.
"Yes," Pecker responded.
"That's standard operating procedure?" Bove again asked.
"Yes," Pecker said.
"And sometimes when politicians are doing that, that is to try to win elections?" Bove continued.
"Right," Pecker responded.
"Nothing wrong about that?" Bove asked.
"No," Pecker responded.
'I still consider him a friend,' Pecker says of Trump
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker concluded his direct examination by offering kind words about the former president.
"I felt that Donald Trump was my mentor. He helped me throughout my career," Pecker said, detailing how Trump reached out to help after one of Pecker's employees died from an anthrax attack in 2001.
"The first person who called me if I needed help was Donald Trump, and he was very helpful," Pecker said.
Pecker confirmed that he has not spoken to Trump since early 2019, though the former president sent his regards through mutual friends who saw the former president at Mar-a-Lago.
"I thought the investigation that was going on at the same time -- I thought it was inappropriate to respond or have any conversations with Mr. Trump," Pecker said.
Pecker said he still considers Trump to be a friend.
"I have no ill will at all," Pecker said about Trump. "Even though we haven't spoke … I still consider him a friend."
Pecker details his non-prosecution agreement with DA
When former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker received a letter from the Federal Election Commission in September 2018, "I called up Michael Cohen immediately," Pecker said.
Cohen said he had also received a letter from the FEC -- but urged Pecker not to fret.
"He says,' Why are you worried?' He said, 'Jeff Sessions is the attorney general and Donald Trump has him in his pocket,'" Pecker testified.
Pecker then described the non-prosecution agreement his company, AMI, struck with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, which included details about the catch-and-kill arrangement he had brokered with Cohen.
Pecker read for the jury passages from the non-prosecution agreement, including a reference to AMI's deal to pay Karen McDougal -- described in the agreement only as "the model" -- for her story, "so as to prevent it from influencing the presidential election."
'I thought we had an agreement,' Pecker says Trump told him
After court resumed for the afternoon session, David Pecker retook the stand.
The former National Enquirer publisher testified that six months after Donald Trump became president, Trump hosted a "thank-you dinner" for Pecker and some of his business associates.
After taking photos in the Oval Office -- "Jared Kushner was there, Sean Spicer was there" Pecker said -- Trump asked Pecker to walk with him along the colonnade "past the Rose Garden," Pecker recalled. The jury saw a photo of the two men on that walk.
Trump said that on that walk, Trump asked Pecker, "How's Karen doing?" referring to Karen McDougal, who the National Enquirer had paid to catch-and-kill her story claiming a year-long relationship with Trump.
"She's doing well. She's quiet. All's going good," Pecker recalled responding.
Eight months later, in March 2018, Pecker said Trump called him about a television interview McDougal had conducted.
"He said 'Did you see the Anderson Cooper interview with Karen McDougal?' I said yes. He said, 'I thought we had an agreement with Karen that she can't give any interviews or be on any television shows.' So I said yes we have an agreement, but I amended it," said Pecker, who testified earlier that he had done so following the election.
Pecker testified that Trump was very upset. "He couldn't understand why," Pecker said. "He couldn't believe that I did it."
Pecker said Trump also called him after Stormy Daniels appeared on a television interview a short while later.
"He said, 'We have an agreement with Stormy Daniels that she cannot mention my name or do anything like this, and each time she breaches the agreement it's $1 million penalty,'" Pecker said.
'I'm not 100% sure I could be fair,' says juror who is excused
A woman who works for New York City told the court, "I'm a public servant and I've built my entire career trying to serve the city I live in and I see this as an extension of that," as individual questioning of prospective jurors continued.
She had signaled she had strong views about campaign finance, but said "I don't believe so" when Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass asked whether that would affect her ability to judge the case fairly.
Earlier, a self-employed woman who has lived on the Upper East Side for 25 years let out an audible sigh.
She had reached the part of the questionnaire that asked whether she can decide the case solely on the evidence and whether she had strong beliefs about Trump that would inhibit her from being fair.
"I'm not 100% sure I could be fair," the woman said, and was excused.
When a school teacher from Harlem who is in her late 20s answered the same question, she spoke about the 2020 election.
"There was a divide in the country and I can't ignore that," she said. "However, I never equated that to one individual." She remained in the jury pool.