Hush money for porn star
Ahead of possible Trump indictment: Key witness testifies again in Stormy Daniels case
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office targeted Donald Trump, former President of the United States, for potentially illegal hush money payments
© Evan Vucci/AP/DPA
It is still eagerly awaited whether Donald Trump will be charged with hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Now the grand jury has questioned ex-publisher David Pecker in the case.
A witness testified again before a possible indictment against ex-US President Donald Trump in connection with hush money payments to former porn actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal. According to consistent media reports, David Pecker, former chairman of the media company American Media Inc. (AMI), which publishes the tabloid “National Enquirer”, appeared before the so-called grand jury in New York on Monday.
‘National Enquirer’ suppressed story about Trump affair
Pecker played a key role in matching an attorney for Daniels with Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen just weeks before the 2016 election. The 44-year-old, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had sex with Trump in 2006 when he was already married to Melania, which the ex-president denies. According to court documents, Daniels contacted AMI through a lawyer in October 2016 and stated that she was ready to go public with their alleged affair.
In August 2016, the National Enquirer bought the rights to a story about a woman who claimed to have had a relationship with Trump, according to court filings, but the paper never published it. The company later admitted the purchase was aimed at suppressing the story in order to improve Trump’s chances of being elected.
When Daniels still hadn’t received any money less than two weeks before the 2020 election, she threatened to have her story published elsewhere, US broadcaster CNN reports, citing court documents. Packer told Cohen at the time that the deal had to go through “or it could look really bad for everyone.” Cohen then agreed to complete the agreement and said he paid Daniels $130,000 on behalf of Trump.
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According to the US news channel CNN, Pecker had already met with prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 2019 and in January of this year as part of the investigation into the hush money payments. Pecker and another associate were granted immunity as part of the federal investigation in exchange for testifying before the grand jury.
New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg is investigating Trump’s payments to Daniels and McDougal — an indictment seems likely. The investigators are also concerned with the question of whether the ex-president may have violated campaign finance laws by making the payment. The 23-member grand jury will decide whether to press charges after the prosecutor has presented evidence.
It is still unclear when the grand jury will vote on an indictment. Most observers assume that this is imminent. The process could theoretically drag on for weeks.