How I understand the National Enquirer involvement [View all]

Pecker had two angles to cover for Trump’s campaign. The first part was the “catch and kill” component to buy the exclusive rights to any salacious stories about Trump then bury them. This is the “hush money” part of the case and it’s of less importance than the election interference component.

Part two of Pecker’s involvement was more nefarious. Trump, through Michael Cohen, would plant false rumors at the Enquirer which would then be published. These would be falsities like “Hilary Clinton has brain cancer” and “Ted Cruz’s father participated in JFK’s assassination.” When these lies were printed, Trump would then comment on the stories as if he had just learned of them. His quotes, in turn, would be printed and broadcast by the MSM thereby injecting Trump’s lies into the so-called legitimate media giving the lies the patina of validity.

Pecker’s involvement was clearly only to help Trump’s campaign as he testified that none of the false stories helped the Enquirer’s sales; it was all political.

Trump has a history of planting stories in the press going back to the 1970s and ‘80’s. The gossip columnist, Cindy Adams (Page Six), has told tales of Trump calling her and trying to disguise his voice to tell her a Trump story. The arrangement with Pecker is right out of Trump’s playbook.

Pecker’s testimony is devastating for Trump’s defense because it clearly details the planning and execution of their conspiracy. The case isn’t about Stormy Daniels, it’s about the conspiracy to influence the election.