Scandal!  Sex!  Politics!  Money!  It sounds like a story David Pecker would’ve loved to cover while publisher of the National Enquirer–assuming, of course, he wasn’t helping to quash the scandal.  Pecker’s up on the stand again starting Thursday morning, and it’s possible that prosecutors’ questioning will wrap up.  

On top of all that, Trump may face sanctions from the bench for his social media posts mentioning witnesses in the case, a no-no for his gag order.  But before Pecker rises tomorrow, let’s review what we’ve learned so far in the first partial day of testimony.

• Pecker and Michael Cohen worked directly with Trump to create a system to “catch and kill” stories detrimental to Trump.  They discussed it in a conversation in a room together; Cohen can provide corroborating testimony.
• The National Enquirer had never pursued a “catch and kill” relationship with a potential story subject on behalf of a celebrity before Trump.  
• Cohen and AMI worked together to benefit Trump and denigrate his opponents even to the extent that Cohen approved and suggested cover text.
• Cohen was not acting as Trump’s personal lawyer in those capacities; he was a representative of the campaign, speaking on behalf of Trump, Pecker believed.
• Pecker used AMI/National Enquirer to cast a net for people potentially with stories that could damage Trump and Trump’s campaign.  He was an active part of Trump’s media efforts–in this case, countering potential negative media under cover of a media outlet.
• They caught at least three stories relating to Trump:  an affair with Karen McDougal; an encounter with Stormy Daniels; and an unproven claim of a love child made by a former doorman at Trump Tower.
• Like Fox, the National Enquirer became an on-demand propaganda outlet for the Trump campaign where the publisher/broadcasters were working directly with the candidate to form the message and reinforce it across channels.

There are innumerable things Donald Trump’s lawyers have to knock down to address his legal exposure, but they also have the added inherent task of defeating the damaging PR message that Trump bought favorable media coverage.  They must accomplish this image during cross-examination, but it will be difficult given the witness–a scandal sheet publisher–clearly has no personal shame in the matter.  

The effort gave Trump literally millions of impressions for shoppers at supermarket checkout lines, from your neighborhood bodega to Whole Foods on a weekly basis.  Every store had new “billboards” with pro-Trump or anti-opponent headlines that grab your attention for seconds–every one as impactful as a purchased ad.  

Neither of Trump’s two in-house propaganda arms, Fox or the National Enquirer, cared about fact-checking Trump, and their managements were happy to help the campaign.  Those are illegal campaign contributions that support the elevation of the charges to the felony level.