Donald Trump's penchant for spreading fake news is a specialty of his that goes back decades, as revealed in testimony during his New York hush money criminal trial.
During court proceedings this Thursday, Trump had to face witness and longtime associate David Pecker, who was once the publisher of the National Enquirer. Salon's Heather Digby Parton writes that the "sleazy tale of the arrangement Trump made with Pecker and his relationship with this extortionist gossip monger alone should be enough to sink Trump's chances of ever being elected again to the presidency."
"Over two days of Pecker's testimony, the prosecution has laid out the details of what they say was a conspiracy to 'promote or prevent' the election of any person under state law. (Trump is actually charged with falsifying his business records to cover up the violation of that law, which is what makes his conduct a felony.) It's hard to argue that it isn't exactly what they were engaged in doing. Pecker admitted it repeatedly and Michael Cohen previously pleaded guilty to the same thing and will presumably testify to that effect when he's called in this trial. They were paying people off who were trying to come forward with negative information about Trump and then Trump and his company tried to hide the paper trail," Parton wrote. ...
