Returning from a break, Pecker recalled meeting McDougal for lunch in August 2017, their first face-to-face meeting.
The agreement she signed with the Enquirer was revealed by the Wall Street Journal just days before the 2016 election. Earlier in his testimony, Pecker said he agreed to amend their deal to allow McDougal to speak to the press after the Journal story ran. He said he set her up with a media consultant who reported to him.
At the 2017 lunch, Pecker said McDougal talked about articles she was writing and her career aspirations. “My standpoint was that we were complying to the agreement and that she was comfortable,” he testified. “I wanted her to remain in our family, I should say.”
Steinglass, the prosecutor, then displayed another Wall Street Journal headline from Jan. 12, 2018: “Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star’s Silence.” The story was the first public acknowledgement of Cohen’s payment to Daniels. At the beginning of March, Daniels, represented by attorney Michael Avenatti, sued Trump to get out of the agreement with Cohen.
McDougal granted CNN an interview that aired on March 23, 2018. Pecker said he watched it that night, and Trump called him about it the next day.
“Did you see the Anderson Cooper interview with Karen McDougal?” Trump asked, according to Pecker. “I thought we had an agreement with Karen McDougal that she can’t give any interviews or be on any television shows.”
Pecker said he told Trump about the amendment allowing McDougal to speak to the media. He said Trump became aggravated, saying he “could not understand why” he would change the deal. Pecker said he pushed back, telling Trump that McDougal had been flooded with media requests.
“He was very upset, he couldn’t understand why I did it. That was basically the conversation,” Pecker testified.
Pecker said he then spoke with Trump aide Hope Hicks and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. He said he intended to extend the contract with McDougal. “They both said it was a good idea,” Pecker testified.
McDougal sued AMI soon after. Pecker said he settled the lawsuit and relinquished the rights to her life story.
