21/ Klasfeld:
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo's first line:
👉🏼"This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up."
👉🏼The purpose of this conspiracy, the prosecutor says, was to influence the 2016 presidential election.
21/ Klasfeld:
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo's first line:
👉🏼"This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up."
👉🏼The purpose of this conspiracy, the prosecutor says, was to influence the 2016 presidential election.
22/ Klasfeld:
As "one part" of the agreement, Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to "silence her and to make sure the public did not learn about a sexual encounter with the defendant."
Colangelo pivots to the Trump Tower meeting with Trump, Cohen, and David Pecker, the CEO of AMI, the National Enquirer's parent company.
23/ Klasfeld:
Pecker would act as the "eyes and ears" of the campaign to gather info that might be harmful to Trump's candidacy.
AMI would also use its publications and magazines to publish stories flattering to Trump.
"The National Enquirer ran headline after headline that extolled the defendant's virtues," ones that Pecker specifically instructed.
"The National Enquirer also ran stories attacking Mr. Trump's political opponents," including against Ben Carson and Ted Cruz.
24/ Klasfeld:
Colangelo describes the conspiracy with AMI as having three parts:
1) to run positive coverage.
2) to attack opponents
3) be "eyes and ears" of the campaign.
He says that last prong of the conspiracy falls under the rubric of "catch-and-kill."
25/ Bower:
Coangelo on alleged conspiracy:
Soon after Trump announced his run for President, he asked David Pecker—the CEO of AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer—to meet with him. Also at the meeting was attorney Michael Cohen.
Cohen, Pecker, Trump, “struck an agreement" at that meeting, the prosecution says.
They agreed that Pecker would help campaign by acting as the "eyes and ears" of the Trump campaign to gather info harmful to Trump, which would then be reported to Cohen.
26/ PLEASE NOTE:
If there are typos, they’re not mine.
I’m copying/pasting a number of reporters from 2 different platforms.
I do not have time to go back and correct.
27/ Klasfeld:
The prosecutor describes three "catch-and-kill" operations.
The first payoff went to Dino Sajudin, who had been hawking a false story that Trump fathered a child out-of-wedlock.
Pecker was acting, in that scheme, had been acting as a "co-conspirator," Colangelo says.
28/ Klasfeld:
When AMI determined later that Mr. Sajudin's allegations weren't even true, Cohen instructed Pecker to delay releasing him from the non-disclosure agreement until after the 2016 election, the prosecutor tells the jury.
Next up: Karen McDougal.
McDougal said that she had a romantic and sexual relationship with Trump, while he was married, that lasted for roughly a year.
29/ Klasfeld:
"The evidence will show that the defendant desperately did not want this information about Karen McDougal to become public" because he was concerned about how it would affect the election, Colangelo says.
30/ Klasfeld:
"The evidence will show that the defendant desperately did not want this information about Karen McDougal to become public" because he was concerned about how it would affect the election, Colangelo says.
"You will see the flurry of text messages, the barrage of phone calls" about the desire to silence Karen McDougal's story.
David Pecker is reportedly set to be the first witness, and the prosecutor promises the jury that they will hear him testify.
31/ Press:
Prosecutor: Howard told Cohen he thought the allegations were true. They all discussed it. Pecker agreed AMI would pay $150,000 for the story. AMI added other terms, Ms. McDougal would appear on the cover. But it was hush money
👉🏼You will hear David Pecker testify about his conversations with Donald Trump about McDougal. But Trump didn't pay, and Pecker was frustrated. Cohen recorded a conversation with Donald Trump. You will here it. Cohen spoke with Allen Weiselberg