Jurors considering whether former President Donald Trump should be convicted on 34 felony counts sent a note to the judge Wednesday asking to hear four pieces of testimony regarding a scheme to “catch-and-kill” negative stories about Trump ahead of the 2016 election.
Former President Donald Trump walks to speak to the media during his criminal trial at Manhattan ... [+]
Jurors requested to hear four pieces of testimony from the weekslong trial, including former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testifying about a 2015 meeting with Trump and ex-attorney Michael Cohen about killing negative stories about Trump, about Pecker’s payment to model Karen McDougal, who was paid $150,000 to cover up allegations she had an affair with Trump, and a phone call he had with Trump about McDougal.
They also asked to hear Cohen’s testimony about the 2015 meeting with Trump and Pecker.
Pecker testified in April that he met with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower, saying Trump asked “what can I do and what my magazines could do to help the campaign,” to which Pecker said he would “run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponents.”
He also testified he would be the campaign’s “eyes and ears” and would alert Cohen if “I hear anything negative about [Trump] or if I hear anything about women selling stories,” so that the campaign could ensure those stories would not be published.
This story is breaking and will be updated.