NEW YORK — A crucial witness in the hush money trial against Donald Trump testified on Tuesday during questioning by prosecutors about the frantic efforts Michael Cohen allegedly made to shut down stories that would be “embarrassing” to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The witness, David Pecker, was a longtime publisher of the National Enquirer, and on the witness stand Tuesday he described a 2015 meeting with Trump and Trump’s then-attorney Cohen. Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office described it as the “Trump Tower conspiracy.”
Witness David Pecker, far right, talks on the witness stand while Donald Trump, far left, looks on as assistant district attorney Joshua Steingless asks questions with Judge Juan Merchan presiding in Manhattan criminal court Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
That meeting is where prosecutors say the trio laid the groundwork for a scheme to benefit Trump’s eventual 2016 campaign. The prosecutors said that alleged scheme became even more crucial after several sex scandals threatened to emerge the …