Testimony ends for the day in Trump hush money trial

After testifying that he had concerns about the legality of paying to kill a story concerning a political candidate, David Pecker elaborated that his concerns stemmed from a 2003 incident involving Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Pecker said that at the time, he was buying several fitness magazines, and added that he had a meeting with Schwarzenegger, who had been on the cover of the magazines between 70 and 80 times.

Pecker said Schwarzenegger wanted to be an editor-at-large, and also told him that he was going to run for California governor soon.

"I would like you not to publish any negative stories about me now or in the future," Pecker recalled Schwarzenegger telling him.

Pecker agreed, and shortly afterward, Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy on Jay Leno's show. Pecker testified that after the announcement, "a number of women" called in with stories about Schwarzenegger, including stories about alleged relationships and alleged sexual harassment.

"The deal that I had — the agreement I should say — that I had with Arnold was that I would call and advise him of any stories that were out there. I ended up buying them for a period of time," he said.

He explained that one of the women whose story was purchased ended up taking it to the Los Angeles Times after Pecker did not run it.

"It was very embarrassing for me and the company, and at the time, there was an investigation" by the state, Pecker said. Schwarzenegger had to resign as editor-at-large for the fitness magazines, he said.

Pecker added that the situation gave him pause to buy stories in the future.

Pecker said the contract with Karen McDougal was signed the first week of August 2016.

Remember: American Media Inc agreed to pay McDougal $150,000 five months before the 2016 election for her silence about allegations of an affair with Trump, according to prosecutors. Trump has denied the affair.

This payment is not part of the charges against Trump, but prosecutors have said in court filings that the testimony would help establish a pattern of payments. 

Steinglass asks Pecker if he had concerns about the legality of paying to kill a story concerning a political candidate.

"Yes, I did," Pecker says.

Jurors can see texts on the screen:

On July 23, 2016, former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard texted Pecker, “Spoke to MC about that other issue. Obviously concerned that it is proceeding with filming dates etc and wants me to handle it. I’m on it."

MC refers to Michael Cohen.

Pecker says he can't remember what text is referring to. He asks for more clarity, and Steinglass suggests that it will become clear as they continue with questioning.

According to the records, Pecker responded hours later, "Good move and follow up”

Pecker testifies that he understood that he'd be reimbursed by the Trump Organization or Trump himself if he paid Karen McDougal the $150,000.

Steinglass is now showing text messages between Pecker and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard from 2016 about Karen McDougal.

Jurors have the screens with the evidence in front of their seats. Several are leaning forward to look at the texts.

The parties established the date of the text messages, after Pecker confirmed to Steinglass that in July, the date of the text message, it was daylight savings time, meaning a four-hour time difference from UTC.

David Pecker said he'd update Cohen on the the negotiations as he heard from former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.

Pecker says that when they had the price, he had a discussion with Cohen of who should pay. Cohen told him that he should, Pecker says.

"Michael, why should I pay?" Pecker says he responded. "I just paid $30,000 for the doorman story. Now your’e asking me to pay $150,000 for the Karen story."

Pecker and Cohen spoke daily. Cohen was agitated, Pecker testifies, always asking, "Why is this taking so long? Why didn't we buy the agreement yet?"

Cohen on the phone reiterated, "Don't worry about it, I'm your friend, the boss will take care of it," Pecker says.

Pecker testifies that National Enquirer Dylan Howard gave his updates as the negotiations to purchase Karen McDougal's story were happening.

Laying out the terms of the agreement, Pecker says they would purchase the lifetime rights for $150,000. McDougal wanted to restart her career, writing articles and being an anchor for Radar Magazine for red carpet events.

Steinglass is asking Pecker how he felt about Cohen's assertion that Trump would reimburse him.

"Over the years that I know, that I worked with Michael Cohen, I know he didn’t have any authorization to spend or to disperse any funds from Trump Organization," Pecker says.

Pecker said he was authorized to move forward with former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, who would negotiate the terms, but at this point they hadn't discussed the purchase price for the Karen McDougal story yet.

He says every time he and Cohen would go for lunch, he paid, not Cohen.