The former publisher of the National Enquirer told a New York court that he offered to be Donald Trump’s “eyes and ears” to help his presidential campaign.
David Pecker, the first witness to be called in Mr Trump’s “hush money” trial, said he worked to suppress negative stories about the then-Republican candidate ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
He also allegedly attacked Mr. Trump’s political opponents at the direction of his former lawyer and “fixer”, Michael Cohen.
Prosecutors claim the three men formed a “criminal conspiracy” to influence the results of the election.
Mr. Pecker said that Mr. Trump was “pleased” with his offer to help the campaign when the trio met at Trump Tower.
He said he then told Dylan Howard, the Enquirer‘s editor-in-chief, to identify any potential stories about the candidate that he could pass onto Mr Cohen.
“I told him that we were going to try to help the campaign and to do that we are going to try and keep this as quiet as possible,” Mr. Pecker told the court, as Mr. Trump watched him intently.
Mr. Cohen also supplied information on the former president’s political rivals that the tabloid then “embellished”, Mr. Pecker added.
