Ex-National Enquirer publisher appears again before grand jury in Trump inquiry
David Pecker, the former publisher of National Enquirer, testified on Monday before the Manhattan grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump's role in hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, The New York Times reports.
This is the second time Pecker has appeared before the grand jury, after first testifying in January, the Times reports. In 2016, right before the presidential election, Pecker connected Trump's then-lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to Daniels, after she said she was willing to go public about her alleged 2006 affair with Trump. Cohen worked out an agreement where Daniels signed a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $130,000, and he was later reimbursed by the Trump Organization. For his role in the matter, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws.
Pecker and Trump were friends, and before the 2016 election, the National Enquirer's parent company, AMI, paid off former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also said she had an affair with Trump. AMI never published her story, later admitting "that its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman's story so as to prevent it from influencing the election," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced in 2018.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Margaret Atwood’s memoir, intergenerational trauma and the fight to make spousal rape a crime: Welcome to November booksThe Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Cursed Daughters’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite and 'Without Consent' by Sarah Weinman
-
‘Tariffs are making daily life less affordable now’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Will California tax its billionaires?Talking Points Proposed one-time levy would shore up education, Medicaid
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
A free speech debate is raging over sign language at the White HouseTalking Points The administration has been accused of excluding deaf Americans from press briefings
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
