Second day of testimony wraps in Trump hush money trial

David Pecker testified that he told Michael Cohen to "relax" because he "kept on calling me" to ask about former National Enquirer editor in chief Dylan Howard's interview with former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Pecker said he'd let him know when he heard from Howard. He said each time Cohen called he seemed more "anxious," as if he was under pressure.

When asked about Cohen's tone in the frequent calls, Pecker said, "Michael was very agitated. It looked like he was getting a lot of pressure to get the answer like right away."

David Pecker is describing a call he had with Donald Trump about Playboy model Karen McDougal's allegations after former National Enquirer editor in chief Dylan Howard interviewed her.

David Pecker said he was at an event and was told by his assistant that he had a phone call from Trump.

Pecker says that it was his understanding that McDougal didn't want to have her story published and he suggested that Trump buy the story.

David Pecker said that around the time Karen McDougal's allegations were brought up, he was speaking to Michael Cohen nearly every day, sometimes a couple of times per day.

Pecker testified that Cohen told him they shouldn't talk on a landline and suggested they switch to the Signal app.

Pecker said he didn't know what Signal was, but he agreed to use it. "Every time I used it it dropped off after 30 seconds," Pecker said.

David Pecker is testifying about former Playboy model Karen McDougal's story about an affair she alleged with Trump.

He said Michael Cohen's immediate reaction to hearing about McDougal's story from Pecker at the time was, "It’s untrue, absolutely not true."

Pecker told Cohen "this is a little different" and suggested they vet the story. Cohen agreed that was a good idea, Pecker testified.

Pecker went on to say that he asked former National Enquirer editor in chief Dylan Howard to go to California to interview McDougal and find out what the details were.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche and Donald Trump are whispering as David Pecker testifies about using Signal to speak to Michael Cohen.

David Pecker said former National Enquirer editor in chief Dylan Howard came to him in June 2016, saying he "received a call from one of his major sources in California that there’s a Playboy model who is trying to sell a story about a relationship that she had with Donald Trump for a year," adding that it was a "romantic relationship."

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asks Pecker whether Howard believed the relationship also had a "sexual component."

"Yes, he thought that," Pecker says. "But he didn’t know at that time."

Trump is now looking at David Pecker as he's testifying about former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Prosecutors asked David Pecker if he nows somebody named Karen McDougal.

"Yes, I do," Pecker said.

McDougal is a model and actress who has said she had a monthslong affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and was paid $150,000 to keep quiet about it by the National Enquirer. Trump has denied the allegations.

Prosecutors are looking to establish that this case is about election fraud, and Donald Trump's use of his network to benefit him while running for president in 2016.

In order to do so, prosecutors in their questioning have highlighted again and again the benefits and motivations of David Pecker — former chairman of American Media, Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer —  related to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Pecker has testified already about how Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen was deeply involved in the campaign, how other political advisers were in touch with Pecker, and how his contact with the former president and response to stories being shopped to his tabloid took on a new life because of Trump's campaign.

Prosecutors have made clear they see these record falsification charges against Trump as more serious than common business record violations due to Trump's interest in concealing his payments through Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels because they benefited him politically, akin to contributions to his campaign.