Embarrassing stories, and who pays? Trump trial key takeaways, day seven | Donald Trump trials

1. Pecker said he bought McDougal’s story to prevent it from interfering in the 2016 election

Pecker squarely said that the principal purpose of his decision to buy Karen McDougal’s story was to benefit Trump’s campaign.

“We didn’t want this story to embarrass Mr Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign,” he said, referring to himself and Michael Cohen. Asked by the prosecutor whether his intention was to prevent the story from interfering in the election, Pecker said yes.

2. Pecker also believed Trump wanted to kill stories for his campaign

Before Trump ran for president and an…