Who is David Pecker, the first key witness in Donald Trump's trial?

He is the first key witness in the historic trial of the former President of the United States. A close friend of Donald Trump since the mid-1990s, the 73-year-old was at the helm of a media empire for more than two decades, with his status as chairman and CEO of American Media Inc.. The man businessman is accused of taking advantage of his position to cover up affairs that could have harmed Trump's 2016 presidential campaign: including those of Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and the former Trump Tower doorman.

David Pecker was born in the Bronx, New York. To support his family after the death of his father at the age of 16, he began working in accounting and earned a degree from Pace University. In the 1990s, he became CEO of Hachette Filipacchi magazines, and in 1995 he launched George, a monthly political lifestyle magazine edited by John F. Kennedy Jr..

Her meeting with Donald Trump, then a real estate mogul, dates back to the mid-1990s, when he suggested she launch Trump Style magazine, which documented the "glamor and fun" of Trump's real estate properties and casinos. Travel, vacations, meetings... Their complicity quickly developed over the years to the point that the businessman found himself invited to Trump's wedding to Melania in 2005.

However, Donald Trump's faithful friend is called today to testify against him. He is in fact involved in numerous cases concerning Donald Trump's secret payments.

A conversation dating from August 2015, transcribed by the Wall Street Journal, traces the origin of the agreement between the two men: it is transcribed that Trump asks Pecker what he can do to help him within the framework of his presidential campaign. The latter then responds that he can use his National Enquirer media to buy the silence of women who accuse Trump of sexual assault against the former president. Pecker becomes Trump’s “eyes and ears” at this precise moment, according to the prosecutor.

“These three men formed a conspiracy during this meeting to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information about Trump in order to help him get elected,” prosecutor Colangelo said Monday while addressing the court jurors. . He accuses David Pecker of being involved in a total of three “catch and kill” cases.

The first concerns a doorman at Trump World Tower, Dino Sajudin, who claimed to have evidence of the existence of a hidden child. The latter received $30,000 in 2015 from the media group to reserve the exclusivity of this story for him. Which in the end was never published... In 2018, he told CNN: “When I worked at the Trump World Tower, I was ordered not to criticize President Trump's former housekeeper ". “Because of an affair she had with President Trump, from which a child was born,” he added.

The second case concerns Karen McDougal, a Playboy playmate of the year in 1998, who reported having an affair with Trump while he was married to Melania. In August 2016, $150,000 was paid to him via the weekly National Enquirer. Again, the information is never published. The Associated Press news agency says Picker kept the unpublished information in his safe.

The last and undoubtedly the most famous story is that of Stormy Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford. The pornographic actress claimed for many years to have had a relationship with Donald Trump. Just before the presidential campaign, in 2016, Stormy Daniels received $130,000.

American Media admitted in a 2018 settlement to avoid federal prosecution that it made the payment to Karen McDougal. Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who admitted to being behind the $130,000 payment for Stormy Daniels, said he helped organize Karen McDougal's deal, on the orders of Donald Trump.