With Trump, his attorneys and the prosecutors back in their seats, Merchan addressed the room.
The jurors had four requests. They wanted to hear several parts of David Pecker’s testimony again — the part where he spoke to Trump during an investor meeting, the part where he talked about Karen McDougal’s life rights and the part where he talked about the 2015 Trump Tower meeting where he agreed to use his magazines to give Trump’s campaign a boost. They also wanted to hear the part of Michael Cohen’s testimony where he spoke about that 2015 meeting.
As the prosecution’s first witness, it’s been well over a month since jurors heard from Pecker.
Merchan left the room to allow the attorneys time to figure out which portions of the transcripts should be read.
The investor meeting the jurors referenced seemingly refers to a mid-2016 presentation Pecker said he was giving in New Jersey when he received a call from Trump. He said he took the call, and the pair discussed McDougal’s interest in selling her story about her alleged yearlong affair with Trump. Pecker said he recommended that Trump buy the story to lock it down, but he did not want to.
Pecker recalled Trump telling him, “I don’t buy stories. Anytime you do anything like this, it always gets out.” They agreed to reconnect later, Pecker said.
Pecker’s American Media Inc. ended up paying for McDougal’s story, forking over $150,000. Pecker testified that he almost went through with a deal to transfer the life rights to Cohen and Trump, but it fell through.
