During the first week of former President Donald Trump‘s criminal trial in Manhattan, where he faces 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business documents to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified.
Pecker testified that he practiced “catch and kill” tactics — securing and paying for exclusive stories only to keep the stories from being published — to protect Trump and help his 2016 presidential campaign. Pecker also testified that National Enquirer ran stories targeting Trump’s fellow GOP candidates during the primary, Senator Ted Cruz and Dr. Ben Carson, and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
On CNN, Dana Bash asked U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) if he has any concerns about Trump using such tactics while running for the President of the United States.
DANA BASH: David Pecker testified that he paid to catch and kill stories about Trump specifically to help his presidential campaign. You don’t have any concerns about that?
LINDSEY GRAHAM: You know, apparently a lot of people do this. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, I think… pic.twitter.com/cdCyF7WKLp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 28, 2024
Graham replied: “You know, apparently, a lot of people do this, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods. No I think the whole thing is a crock.” He added, “I think it’s a political hit job on Trump and six months before the election.” (Pecker testified that he bought stories concerning Woods.)
Bash responded: “Obviously, Tiger Woods isn’t running for President.”
Note: Graham is right about the trial’s timing, though he implies that its proximity to the election is the prosecution’s preference, an assertion that neglects to take into account that Trump and his legal team tried to postpone the current criminal trial several times, not the District Attorney’s office. When Trump made his third attempt to delay the trial, Lisa Evans, a prosecutor for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, pushed back, and argued that delaying the trial would “cause enormous disruption” and that there’s no reason to do so.