Who is the Trump trial's first witness David Pecker?

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker/REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

Former President Donald’s trial in Manhattan court kicked off its second week on Monday by hearing from its first witness, former media publisher David Pecker.

Pecker briefly took the stand on Monday, where he spoke to the court about his background as the former CEO of American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer. Pecker told the court he worked for the company from March 1999 to August 2020, serving as chairman, president and CEO from 2015-2017. 

Trial proceedings wrapped up earlier than initially expected on Monday at 12:30, with Pecker expected to resume his testimony Tuesday after 11 a.m.

The prosecution team alleges the former media publisher is a key figure in a "catch and kill" scheme that worked to benefit Trump ahead of the 2016 election. "Catch-and-kill" schemes are understood as tactics used by media and publishing companies to buy the rights of a person’s story with no intention of publishing it.

The trial itself focuses on Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paying former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged affair she had with the then-real estate tycoon in the early 2000s. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.

Daniels reportedly spoke to the National Enquirer regarding her claims of an affair with Trump, with Pecker reportedly contacting Cohen to "purchase" Daniels' silence on the alleged affair. 

Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony. 

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.