National Enquirer witness tells jury he believed Karen McDougal's Trump affair claim
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified Thursday that he believed Karen McDougal's accusations that she had an extensive affair with Donald Trump.
Law360's Stewart Bishop and Just Security's Adam Klasfeld relayed the specifics, quoting Pecker's statements from the stand as he gave evidence in the hush money trial.
Answering questions from prosecutors, Pecker explained that he had "concerns" about the McDougal story and contacted Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen.
"You should go ahead and buy this story," Cohen said, according to Pecker.
"I am going to have Dylan Howard negotiate the terms," Pecker recalled responding. He then asked: "Who's going to pay for it?"
Pecker claimed Cohen told him: "Don't worry. I'm your friend. The Boss will take care of it."
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He went on to testify that he had concerns about the money.
"I said, 'Michael, why should I pay?'" adding that he told Cohen he'd already paid $30,000 to buy doorman Dino Sajudin's story that claimed Trump had fathered a love child with a Trump Tower maid.
"Now, you’re asking me to pay $150,000 for the Karen story and all of these additional items that she wants to do," Pecker recalled saying.
He then said that Trump called him personally.
"I spoke to Michael. Karen is a nice girl," Pecker said Trump told him.
“He said, ‘What do you think I should do?’ I said we should buy the story and take it off the market," he continued.
“I believed the story was true. I believed it would be very embarrassing to [Trump] ... and also his campaign,” Pecker explained.