The first witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial will give "dynamite evidence" of the former president's alleged attempts to cover up his rumored affairs, a former department of defense special counsel has said.
Attorney Ryan Goodman was reacting to news that publisher David Pecker will likely be the first prosecution witness in Trump's New York trial.
Pecker, the chair of AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer newspaper, is expected to testify that the Enquirer purchased the stories of people who had negative information about Trump and didn't publish them, as an aid to the president.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Goodman noted that the case against Trump includes a meeting he had with Pecker in Trump Tower and again at the White House after he was elected. Goodman wrote that Pecker will give "likely dynamite evidence of nexus between hush money scheme and effort to influence election."
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Monday.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial in a criminal case. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The prosecution seeks to prove that before the 2016 presidential election, Trump paid, or discussed paying, two women—adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal—not to disclose his alleged affairs with them. Trump denies affairs with either women.
As part of the "pattern of behavior" narrative to back up those claims, prosecutors allege that a payment was made to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to know that Trump allegedly fathered a child with another woman.
Prosecutors say National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. bought the rights to the doorman's story following an agreement between Pecker and Trump to look out for negative stories about the then-presidential candidate. Trump has denied all the allegations and says he is the target of a political witch hunt.
Pecker has been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.
Goodman noted that Trump's indictment includes the line: "In the summer of 2017, the Defendant invited the AMI CEO to the White House for a dinner to thank him for his help during the campaign."
Goodman also wrote that Pecker's testimony "should be strong proof of the core allegation that the hush money scheme was geared toward influencing the outcome of the presidential election."
He also noted that Pecker "will also likely testify about his involvement in a flurry of phone calls, after the Access Hollywood tape broke, to buy-and-bury Stormy Daniels' story."
The Access Hollywood tape was a recording of Trump making extremely crude comments about his ability to touch women sexually because of his fame. The release of the tape caused a huge controversy during the 2016 election campaign and Trump needed to bury any sexual scandal in its aftermath.
Goodman also posted an excerpt from Pecker's statement of agreed facts, in which he admitted to prosecutors that he met with Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, in August, 2015. At the meeting, he told Cohen he would buy up the right to any scandal about Trump and never publish it.
Pecker is expected to be called as the first witness after opening statements on Monday.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more
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