Donald Trump threatened to bankrupt a celebrity publicist if she helped Stormy Daniels sell her story in 2012, according to messages entered into evidence in court this week.
The claims come in instant messages between Gina Rodriguez and National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
At the time of their exchange, interest in Trump had reached a fever pitch.
He was the clear front-runner for the 2016 Republican nomination, and Howard’s then-boss explained last week how he had agreed to seek out negative stories about him in what prosecutors say was a “catch and kill” deal to help his campaign.
“I also had Donald Trump call my office four years ago when Stormy Daniels was going to do the Trump mistress story,” Rodriguez wrote in April 2016.
“He threatened that I would never do business in entertainment again.”
In messages to the court hearing Donald Trump’s ‘hush money’ lawsuit, publicist Gina Rodriguez claims the Apprentice star called her office in 2012 when Stormy Daniels was first shopping her story to magazines
A hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is at the heart of the business fraud case against Trump playing out in court in Manhattan
The publicist’s name is redacted from the exhibit, but Wednesday’s court transcript and the title of the document refer to Rodriguez.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying company records to conceal hush money payments to the porn star.
He denies all allegations and insists the prosecution is part of a witch hunt to prevent him from winning back the White House in November.
Far from being a dry case of invoices and bank transfers, the evidence has so far illuminated the murky world of checkbook journalism and Trump’s celebrity lifestyles.
The exchanges documented in People’s Exhibit 171A detail the alleged role that National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc, played in buying up Daniels’ story.
Rodriguez explains why her client didn’t go public in 2012.
“So we killed the story because I thought he was going to sue me,” she wrote.
“But Stormy was his mistress.”
She agrees to email Howard more information about her story.
“InTouch was going to do it before she got a (court-redacted) clearance, but he was scared and now Stormy won’t do anything,” Rodriguez wrote on April 7, 2016.
The last series of messages to be entered into evidence were between publicist Gina Rodriguez and National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
Rodriguez and Howard exchanged dozens of messages as they reached a deal
The trial is now entering its third week in Courtroom 1530 of Manhattan Criminal Court
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Wednesday is a day off from court. On Tuesday, jurors heard famed attorney Keith Davidson describe messages he exchanged with Howard as he struck a $150,000 deal for the rights to Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story.
And last week, David Pecker, then publisher of the National Enquirer and a stable of supermarket tabloids, said in 2015 that he had offered to be the “eyes and ears” of the Trump campaign, looking for negative stories about the candidate.
At the heart of the matter is a deal with Stormy Daniels to cover what she claims was an affair with Trump.
Prosecutors allege Trump tampered with business records to show fixer Michael Cohen was paid a commission for his legal services instead of a ‘hush money’ compensation
The messages between Rodriguez and Howard laid out the terms that Daniels, whose real name is Stefanie Clifford, wanted.
Attorney Keith Davidson, who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, was in court Tuesday to answer questions about his correspondence with former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, who asked him whether Trump cheated on his wife Melania.
David Pecker testified that he had been friends with Trump for decades and had helped stamp out negative stories during the 2016 election after a key meeting at Trump Tower
“She does not want to publish about it, but will tell the story through a source,” her publicist writes. “She will take (redacted by court).
‘She had sex with him. She wants 100,000.”
Howard wants to know more. “One-time or ongoing relationship,” he asks.
Rodriguez responds, “A few times he promised her an apartment, a spot on Apprentice.
“She went to the Miss American pageant. He got her in.”
But Trump did not keep his promises, she added in another message.
Eric Trump arrived with his father Tuesday morning as the trial entered its third week
People’s exhibit 176A contains hundreds of messages between lawyer to the stars Keith Davidson and Dylan Howard, who ran the National Enquirer and was head of content for gossip king David Tucker’s American Media Inc.
The exchanges remind us that this is no ordinary business document case. Prosecutors accuse Trump of covering up negative stories ahead of the 2016 election in what amounted to election interference.
And evidence received so far has revealed the inner workings of the gossip media world and even Trump’s phone book.
The trial will resume on Thursday.
Trump was back on the campaign trail on Wednesday, with visits to the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.
His comments will be closely watched after Judge Juan Merchan fined him $9,000 a day earlier for violating a silence order in the case.
He warned Trump that he was ready to ‘impose a prison sentence for future violations.