David Pecker, a key witness in the trial involving former President Donald Trump, testified about a conference call that Trump arranged between Pecker, who was a tabloid publisher, and two of Trump’s White House aides, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Hope Hicks.
The call occurred shortly after Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump, gave an interview to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. During the call, Pecker informed the aides that he planned to extend an agreement with McDougal to prevent her from publicly discussing her alleged affair with Trump.
Pecker recounted the response from Hicks and Sanders, saying, “They thought that it was a good idea.” This was the first mention of Sanders’ involvement in this context during the trial.
Ultimately, McDougal filed a lawsuit against American Media Inc., and Pecker agreed to settle the claim, releasing McDougal from the non-disclosure agreement.
“We settled and I returned her lifetime rights,” Pecker testified, indicating that he allowed McDougal to retain the rights to her story.
