Former National Enquirer boss breaks his silence on ‘catch and kill’ as lead witness in Trump trial

David Pecker is breaking his silence. The former National Enquirer boss on Monday became the first witness called to testify in Donald Trump’s historic hush-money trial. Sitting in the Manhattan courtroom, Pecker offered illuminating details into how the infamous tabloid operated and conducted so-called “catch and kill” operations.

“We used checkbook journalism,” Pecker candidly confessed, “and we paid for stories.”

It was the first time that Pecker has spoken publicly about the secret practice — buying exclusive rights to a story for the express purpose of never publishing the information — since the tactic gained widespread notoriety during the 2016 presidential election. The Wall Street Journal, which led the way reporting on the story, first broke news in November 2016 — just days before the election — that Enquirer-parent American Media Inc. had paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to a story about an affair she alleged with Trump.

Pecker also allegedly alerted the Trump camp to adult film star Stormy Daniels’ decision to go public with her alleged affair with Trump, which was then captured in a $130,000 hush payment.

But while The Journal and other news outlets reported heavily on how Pecker shielded Trump from the embarrassing affair allegations by purchasing the rights to damaging stories and then never letting them see the light of day, Pecker has never spoken a word about it — until now.