David Pecker was willing to sacrifice magazine sales to serve Trump, prosecutor says (2024)

National Enquirer publisher David Pecker "put the (Trump) campaign first, to the point he was willing to sacrifice magazine sales to serve the defendant," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says.

The magazine's publisher, AMI, was ready to sell the rights to Karen McDougal's story to Donald Trump, the prosecutor says.

Steinglass says AMI was not acting in normal press functions so there can be no exception, noting Judge Juan Merchan will instruct the jury about this.

Former President Donald Trump's team still believes the best likely outcome is a mistrial, according to a source familiar with the team.

However, they are worried about the impact a potential “Allen charge” could have on a deadlocked jury.

An Allen charge — which is also referred to as a dynamite charge — is given when a jury returns and reveals that they are deadlocked. The judge will encourage the jury to go back and continue deliberations and try to find unanimity to avoid a mistrial. This does not require jurors to change their vote or reach a verdict.

Trump's team is concerned that the jury may feel pressure after this instruction to avoid a mistrial in a historic case given the stakes and may decide to compromise and convict on a few charges like the counts for the checks Trump signed, the source said.

So even if this jury is deadlocked, the Trump team believes they still need to get past this additional hurdle to “win."

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says the prosecution has proven Trump had intent to commit, aid or conceal a violation of the election law.

Steinglass says of the conspiracy related to election fraud, "We’re basically beating a dead horse here." The court reporter asked him to repeat that phrase.

Remember: Prosecutors needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, but they don’t have to prove that Trump committed that crime.

The prosecution's theory is that the second crime could be in violation of federal and state election laws or state tax laws for how Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen's reimbursem*nt was handled.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass raises the question of reasonable doubt, telling jurors not to take the defense's "invitation to consider each piece of evidence in a vacuum."

Steinglass tells the jurors to listen to the judge's instructions on reasonable doubt carefully, saying that "the people have proven this case beyond all reasonable doubt."

Nobody is saying Trump got behind a computer and generated vouchers and checks but he set the scheme in motion, Steinglass says.

"Juries determine intent all the time," Steinglass says of need to prove an intent to defraud.

Donald Trump was "the beneficiary of the entire scheme" and the payment scheme to reimburse Michael Cohen in installments over a year did not help Cohen who needed to pay back his home equity loan without his wife finding out, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says.

Remember: Cohen testified he chose a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to fund the Stormy Daniels payment because it was paperless.

He said he didn't draw money from his personal bank account because his wife was "CEO of the household" and she would notice a $130,000 withdrawal.

Joshua Steinglass quickly goes through another summary slide titled "The defendant's direct involvement - Payments/coverup" which he saysshows instances of "overt evidence" of Donald Trump's involvement, including the catch-and-kill scheme and the payment and coverup scheme that includes the nine checks he signed.

The prosecutor says it's "inconceivable" that Trump would be involved in silencing the women but "suddenly stick his head in the sand" when it came to the reimbursem*nt scheme.

Steinglass also notes that Michael Cohen "was and is a self-promoter."

"It simply defies all common sense to think he would undertake these herculean efforts" to help Trump and then keep it to himself, he adds.

Steinglass notes that Cohen told Trump about the American Media, Inc. deal so it defied logic he wouldn't have told him about Stormy Daniels, too.

Joshua Steinglass is walking through Donald Trump's actions across the timeline, including calls with Michael Cohen, meetings with David Pecker and the fact he signed nine of the checks, among other actions.

Joshua Steinglass is now going over a November 4, 2016, call between Michael Cohen and Trump's former body Keith Schiller.

He tells the jury, "I know what you're thinking, how do we know" that this call between Cohen and Schiller's phone was actually a call between Cohen and Trump. Steinglass says the jury has to look at the circ*mstances and it makes sense that Trump and Cohen would talk during the "media monsoon."

According to Cohen's testimony, Weisselberg said "we’re going to pay you over 12 months. That made Cohen believe (Allen) Weisselberg and Trump already discussed the repayment schedule," Steinglass argues.

He says Trump and Weisselberg had a "frick and frack" routine.