Trump’s Pecker in ‘love child’ fix
NEW YORK: Donald Trump asked a tabloid news boss how he could help his first presidential run, a court has heard, and was “very pleased” when the publisher paid off the billionaire’s doorman to silence claims he secretly fathered a love child.
The salacious evidence emerged after a fiery hearing in the former president’s criminal trial in which the judge slapped down his defence team for breaching a gag order by attacking jurors and witnesses, meaning Mr Trump could soon be fined and held in contempt.
Appearing as the prosecution’s first witness, former American Media, Inc. boss David Pecker laid bare his pact with Mr Trump to assist his 2016 campaign by acting as his “eyes and ears” to identify and bury negative stories about his relationships with women.
“In a presidential campaign, I was the person that thought there would be a lot of women who would come out to try and sell their stories,” he said.
Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for this year’s election, has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $US130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, silencing her claim of an affair before the 2016 poll.
When Trump Tower doorman Dino Sajudin alleged that Mr Trump fathered a child with his penthouse maid, Mr Pecker said he denied the claim and offered to take a DNA test.
Mr Pecker said he paid Mr Sajudin $US30,000 to keep quiet because his claim would have embarrassed Mr Trump.
Prior to Mr Pecker’s testimony, prosecutor Chris Conroy called for Mr Trump to be fined $US10,000 for breaching his gag order, including by blasting Mr Cohen and Ms Daniels as “sleazebags”.
When Trump lawyer Todd Blanche claimed his client was “being very careful to comply” with the order, Judge Juan Merchan said: “You’re losing all credibility with the court.”