Stormy Daniels and other key witnesses at Trump hush money trial

Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial in New York is set to feature a colourful cast of witnesses. Among the prosecution witnesses expected to testify are Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, porn star Stormy Daniels, a Playboy model, the former publisher of the National Enquirer and Trump's communications director.

David Pecker, the publisher of tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer, is expected to be the prosecution's first witness on Monday morning.

Here’s a look at some of the key witnesses slated to take the stand:

DAVID PECKER

Pecker was the CEO of American Media and publisher of the National Enquirer until August 2020.

Prosecutors say Pecker, a longtime Trump friend, met with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015 to discuss using the National Enquirer to suppress negative stories about Trump by buying exclusive rights to them and never publishing them.

Prosecutors say the Daniels payment was part of a broader “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump.

Pecker and American Media provided prosecutors with details about Cohen’s payment to Daniels after being subpoenaed by federal investigators in April 2018, according to prosecutors. Pecker was later granted immunity in exchange for testimony about Trump’s knowledge of the payment.

STORMY DANIELS

Daniels, an adult film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 by Trump's former lawyer Cohen for her silence ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Cohen says Trump directed the payment, and prosecutors say Trump falsely classified reimbursements to Cohen as legal expenses. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump has denied the encounter with Daniels and said the payment was personal and was not related to the campaign.

MICHAEL COHEN

Cohen served as Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer for more than a decade until their acrimonious break nearly six years ago as Cohen faced his own personal legal troubles.

Cohen, a top executive at Trump's real estate company before becoming his lawyer, paid Daniels out of his own pocket through a shell company and arranged for her to sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to prosecutors.

In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign finance law violation for paying Daniels. He was sentenced to three years in prison for that and other crimes and served more than a year before being released. Cohen testified against Trump at his civil fraud trial in New York last year, saying in the unrelated case that Trump directed him to fraudulently inflate his property values.

Trump denies those allegations.

KAREN MCDOUGAL

McDougal is a former Playboy model who has said Pecker’s American Media paid her $150,000 in 2016 for her story about a 10-month affair she says she had with Trump in the mid-2000s, the Wall Street Journal reported in November 2016.

Trump denies having an affair with McDougal.

Trump has not been charged over the alleged McDougal payment, but prosecutors say her testimony will give jurors context about the so-called “catch and kill” practice of buying exclusive rights to stories to bury them.

HOPE HICKS

Hicks served as Trump’s press secretary during his presidential campaign and later became his White House communications director.

An unredacted search warrant released in July 2019 showed that Hicks participated in phone calls between Trump and Cohen where they allegedly discussed the hush money payments, ABC News reported in July 2018.

DONALD TRUMP

Trump has said he plans to testify, which could be a risky and open him up to probing cross-examination by prosecutors. Defendants are presumed innocent and are not required to take the stand. But prosecutors must prove Trump intended to break the law to secure a conviction, and he could use his testimony to rebut that assertion. Trump frequently uses courtroom appearances to rally his supporters, and the Republican candidate could use the spectacle of taking the stand as the equivalent of a campaign stop in the run up to the November US presidential election.

David Pecker, ex-publisher of National Enquirer, may be first witness in Trump trial

 David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, is expected to be the first witness for the prosecution of former US President Donald Trump on Monday, when he is certain to be asked about a scheme at the heart of the hush-money trial.

The New York Times on Sunday reported Pecker was set to go first, citing an unidentified person familiar with plan.

Here's a look at Pecker's role and what he may testify about:

• Pecker was the CEO of American Media and publisher of tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer from 1999 until August 2020.
• He was a longtime friend of Trump who helped cover up potentially damaging stories about the businessman and candidate ahead of the 2016 presidential campaign.
• It was unclear whether Pecker agreed to testify voluntarily or is being compelled by subpoena, or how close he may still be to the former president.
• Prosecutors say Pecker met with Trump and his former attorney Michel Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015 to discuss using the National Enquirer to suppress negative stories about Trump by buying exclusive rights to them and never publishing them — a practice known as “catch and kill”.
• One of those instances involved adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump and was paid $130,000 not to tell any other media about it.
• That payment forms part of the case against Trump, who is accused of falsification of business records. Cohen, who has since split with Trump and will testify against him, has said he made that payment at Trump's direction.
• Trump has denied the encounter with Daniels and said the payment was personal and was not related to the campaign.
• Pecker and American Media provided prosecutors with details about Cohen's payment to Daniels after being subpoenaed by federal investigators in April 2018, according to prosecutors. Pecker was later granted immunity in exchange for testimony about Trump's knowledge of the payment.
• Pecker will also testify that he ran stories in the tabloid to boost Trump's 2016 campaign, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.
• On at least two occasions, in January and March of 2023, Pecker testified before the Manhattan grand jury that investigated Trump, a person familiar with the matter said.
• Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges stemming from the payoff and went to prison for campaign finance violations, among other crimes. — American Media Inc (AMI), then publisher of the National Enquirer, in 2018 acknowledged paying $150,000 to another woman, former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal, to prevent her from going public about an alleged affair with Trump ahead of the 2016 election.

Who are the 12 jurors in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York?

Donald Trump will be judged in his historic New York criminal trial by 12 jurors selected last week after a painstaking search for people who could be fair and impartial to the Republican former US president in Manhattan, the Democratic stronghold where he made his name as a real estate tycoon decades ago.

Here’s a look at the panellists. To protect their safety, the judge overseeing the case has limited what the media can report about them, including their employers and any identifying information that was not explicitly stated in the record, such a gender or age.

JUROR 1:

Originally from Ireland, the first juror and foreman lives in West Harlem and has worked in sales for 28 years. The juror attended some college, and they said they get their news from the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC. The juror said they have heard about Trump’s three other criminal cases, to which Trump has pleaded not guilty.

JUROR 2:

An investment banker who lives with a spouse in Hell’s Kitchen in Midtown Manhattan, Juror 2 has a master’s degree in business administration and gets most of their news from the social media platform X. The juror follows former Trump lawyer and prosecution witness Michael Cohen on social media, as well as Mueller She Wrote, a popular anti-Trump account.

JUROR 3:

Juror 3 is one of two corporate lawyers on the panel. They live in the upscale Chelsea neighbourhood but are originally from Oregon. They said they are not “super familiar” with the other cases against Trump and do not follow the news closely but occasionally read the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

JUROR 4:

A California native who lives in the West Village with a spouse and three children, Juror 4 has worked as a security engineer for the past 25 years. They have a high school degree and attended some college. They do not use social media and get their news from various sources.

JUROR 5:

Juror 5 is a self-identified person of colour and lifelong New Yorker who lives in Harlem. They have a master’s degree in education and have been an English teacher for the past eight years. They said they “do not care for the news” and get most of their information from Google and TikTok.

JUROR 6:

Another New York City native, Juror 6 has a bachelor’s degree and works as a software engineer for a large media and entertainment company. They said they get their news mainly from the New York Times and TikTok.

JUROR 7:

Juror 7 is an attorney for a large corporate law firm who is originally from North Carolina but has lived in the Upper East Side for 12 years. They have a bachelor’s degree in business and a law degree. The juror has many friends and relatives who work in finance and law, including the juror’s spouse.

JUROR 8:

Originally from Lebanon, Juror 8 has lived in the Upper East Side since 1980. The juror is retired but previously worked as a wealth manager for a major financial firm and still consults with some clients. They get their news from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC and CNBC.

JUROR 9:

Juror 9 has lived on the Upper East Side for three years but grew up in New Jersey. They have a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree and have worked as a speech therapist for five years. The juror said they do not follow the news closely but occasionally listens to New York Times and CNN podcasts.

JUROR 10:

An Ohio native who has lived in the Murray Hill neighbourhood for six years, Juror 10 works for an eyewear company and lives with an accountant. They have a bachelor’s degree.

JUROR 11:

Juror 11 has lived in upper Manhattan for 15 years but is originally from California. They have worked as a product development manager for a multinational apparel company for 20 years. The juror said they do not follow the news closely except through Google and some industry-specific publications.

JUROR 12:

Juror 12 has lived on the Upper East side for nearly three years and previously lived in Minnesota and several other states. They have a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in physical therapy and have worked as a physical therapist for 15 years. The juror gets their news from the New York Times, USA Today and CNN, and they also listen to podcasts about religion and sports.

Reuters