Bove walks Pecker through his "mutually beneficial" relationship with Trump
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Testimony ends for the day in Trump hush money trial

By CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Brynn Gingras from the courthouse

Updated 9:03 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024
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3:43 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Bove walks Pecker through his "mutually beneficial" relationship with Trump

Bove also walked Pecker through his "mutually beneficial" relationship with Trump, where Trump provided him with stories and information about "Celebrity Apprentice," and he tipped off Trump to negative stories and printed positive stories about Trump.

"This relationship you have with President Trump is a mutually beneficial relationship. You had similar relationships with other people," Bove said.
"I did," Pecker replied, confirming there were other people he would promote in the National Enquirer and give a heads up about negative stories.
3:48 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Pecker says he heard the "catch-and-kill" phrase for the first time from the prosecution

"Before this, you had not heard the phrase catch and kill?" Bove asked Pecker, referring to the hush money case investigation.

"That's correct," Pecker responded.

"The first time you had heard the phrase was from a prosecutor right?" Bove asked.

"That's correct," Pecker responded.

More context: The practice of "catch-and-kill" means buying exclusive rights to a story for the express purpose of never publishing the information. It is a tactic that gained widespread notoriety during the 2016 presidential election.

Pecker spent the morning taking the jury through the machinations of the Stormy Daniels' and Karen McDougal's “catch and kill” deal. 

3:48 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Pecker says he was giving Trump a heads up on negative stories for about 17 years before the election

Pecker confirmed during cross-examination that he has been giving Trump a heads up on negative stories for about 17 years before the election.

"Fair to say, that predated that meeting at Trump Tower in August 2015 by a long time," Bove said.
"Yes," Pecker replied.
"That's almost 17 years prior to the meeting you described in August 2015," Bove said. "Seventeen years of providing President Trump with a heads up about potentially negative publicity."
"Yes," Pecker said.
3:37 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Bove clarifies with Pecker it was standard practice not to publish negative stories about Trump

Bove clarifies with Pecker that dating back to the 1990's it was standard practice "to not publish negative stories about President Trump."

"Yes."
"Because it was not good for business?"
"Yes."
3:35 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Pecker is asked about instances when AMI bought stories "as leverage against a celebrity"

Bove is asking Pecker to describe other instances where AMI would purchase a story, including sometimes "as leverage against a celebrity."

The former publisher confirms he used a third-party consultant to facilitate large AMI payments for stories. He used this consultant to handle these sensitive payments because he was concerned about leaks, Pecker says.

Bove is confirming that using the consultant to facilitate a possible reimbursement from Michael Cohen to AMI for the Karen McDougal story rights was not unique to that situation involving Trump.

He also confirms with Pecker that around the time of the "Celebrity Apprentice" show, research showed that Trump was a top celebrity who could drive the most sales for the National Enquirer at the time.

"So You ran articles about President Trump because it was good for business?"
"That's correct," Pecker said.
3:42 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Key things to know about Trump's legal team as the defense cross-examines David Pecker

From CNN Staff

Former president Donald Trump's defense team stops to listen as Trump speaks upon arriving at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, April 22, in New York. 
Former president Donald Trump's defense team stops to listen as Trump speaks upon arriving at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, April 22, in New York.  Yuki Iwamura/Pool/AP

Trump's legal team is led by Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, two former federal prosecutors from New York, and Susan Necheles, a veteran criminal defense lawyer with deep experience in New York and appearing before Judge Juan Merchan.

Bove is currently cross-examining David Pecker, the prosecution's first witness in the trial.

Here are the key things to know about Trump's legal team:

  • Necheles represented Trump’s business at its tax fraud trial in 2022. The company was convicted. 
  • Blanche has worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney at two large law firms, according to his website. He says, during his career as a defense attorney, he got the criminal indictment against Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort dismissed prior to trial and achieved an “unexpectedly positive result in the politically charged prosecution by the SDNY against Igor Fruman, an associate of Rudy Giuliani.” Fruman was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his role in a scheme to funnel Russian money into US elections.
  • Bove was the co-chief of the national security unit at the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York. In a statement to CNN in September 2023, Blanche said that Bove is “an expert in white collar and CIPA-related litigation.”
  • Kendra Wharton, a white collar defense lawyer who has experience practicing in Washington, DC, was also added to the former president’s legal team. She is a “brilliant lawyer and clients have trusted her for years,” Blanche said in the 2023 statement.
3:33 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

What to expect during the defense team's cross-examination

Now that Trump's team has started its cross-examination of Pecker, a reminder: Defense attorneys are allowed to use leading questions on cross-examination.

That means we will likely hear Pecker confirm or deny things Bove is saying more frequently than give open-ended answers.

3:31 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Former Trump attorney says he is likely experiencing "an immense amount of frustration"

From CNN's Tori B. Powell

Former President Donald Trump is probably experiencing "an immense amount of frustration" as he sits in the courtroom for his New York criminal hush money trial, according to one of his former attorneys, Tim Parlatore.

"I think that his mood is probably much the same as it's been throughout," he told CNN's Erin Burnett. "This is incredibly frustrating for him to have to sit there and not be allowed to stand up and defend themself and to not be, you know, the person in charge."

He went on to say that he thinks the gag order ruling from Judge Juan Merchan is "certainly only going to compound" Trump's mood.

3:29 p.m. ET, April 25, 2024

Bove asks Pecker about the business model for AMI

Trump's attorney asks Pecker if he managed AMI to make money.

"That's correct," Pecker says.
"AMI wasn't a charity?" Bove asks. "No, it was not," Pecker says.
"Part of AMI's business model was to purchase stories, correct?" Bove asked.
"Yes, it was," Pecker responded.

Bove confirms with Pecker that the business model included buying stories, reiterating Pecker's own words that AMI uses "checkbook journalism."

Bove also confirms source agreements are "standard operating procedure" for AMI, to give the company control of how, if at all, the information might be released.