Arnie, Serena Williams and Mark Wahlberg: The celebrities dragged into Trump’s hush money trial
Tabloid publisher David Pecker and attorney Keith Davidson both dropped some high-profile names on the stand during the former president’s trial
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A string of famous faces have found themselves unwittingly dragged into Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial.
In courtroom testimony poured over by much of America, prosecution witnesses name-dropped celebrities from sports stars Serena Williams and Tiger Woods to Hollywood elite Mark Wahlberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mr Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about an alleged sexual encounter she claims she had with Mr Trump in 2006 ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The defendant denies both the affair and any wrongdoing, pleading not guilty to all of the charges against him.
None of the celebrities named are accused of any wrongdoing in connection to the case.
Here’s a look at some of the famous faces who have unexpectedly been mentioned in trial testimony:
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker was the first witness to take the stand, laying out the so-called “catch-and-kill” scheme at the heart of the case, a strategy of buying and then suppressing negative stories about Mr Trump in the lead-up to the election.
While laying out his involvement in the alleged scheme to protect the Republican’s reputation and offering a glimpse into the practice of so-called “chequebook journalism”, the tabloid mogul name-dropped numerous famous figures.
Legendary bodybuilder and movie star Mr Schwarzenegger, who was Mr Trump’s successor as the host of NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice, was brought up during Mr Pecker’s testimony on 25 April.
According to the tabloid boss, he had a similar agreement in place with Mr Schwarzenegger when he was running to be California’s governor to the one he later allegedly struck with Mr Trump.
“I plan on running for governor and I would like you to not publish any negative stories about me now and in the future, and I’ll continue being the editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex [magazines] and be a spokesperson,” Mr Pecker recalled Mr Schwarzenegger telling him at the time.
He continued: “The agreement I had with Arnold was, I would call him and advise him of any stories that were out there. And I ended up acquiring and buying them for a period of time.”
After Mr Schwarzenegger was elected governor in 2003, a woman whose story had been acquired by the Enquirer’s parent company American Media Inc took her accusation to The Los Angeles Times, which published it.
“It was very embarrassing,” Mr Pecker testified. “Most of the press approached Arnold when he was governor. And his comment was: ‘Ask my friend David Pecker.’”
The ensuing ordeal, he said, “made me sensitive about buying any stories in the future. That’s how I became sensitive about this topic.”
Tiger Woods
During cross-examination from Mr Trump’s attorney Emile Bove, Mr Pecker testified that he had also purchased photographs of golf superstar Tiger Woods meeting a woman in a Florida parking lot in 2007.
He said he had then used the photos as leverage to persuade Mr Woods to appear on the cover of his title Men’s Fitness.
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg’s name also cropped up during Mr Pecker’s testimony.
The publisher testified that he had bought a story about an argument between The Departed star and his wife that was never published.
Hulk Hogan
Iconic wrestler and actor Hulk Hogan was mentioned when Ms Daniels’ former lawyer Keith Davidson took the stand in the case.
During cross-examination – in an attempt to paint Mr Davidson as an extortionist – Mr Trump’s defense compelled him to acknowledge that he had faced an FBI investigation, but was never charged, for allegedly attempting to extort Mr Hogan to head off the release of a sex tape.
The same exchange also saw Mr Bove name-drop actor Charlie Sheen, with whom Davidson said he had been involved in organising “valid settlements”, as well as the celebrities Lindsay Lohan and Tia Tequila.
Serena Williams
Tennis superstar Serena Williams was another surprise name brought up at trial after a former aide to the ex-president revealed she was on a list of names who he “frequently spoke to” in early 2017.
Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former executive assistant at the White House, was asked about emails between her and Rhona Graff, a longtime Trump Organization employee.
Among the emails was one from January 24 2017, four days after Mr Trump was inaugurated, where Ms Westerhout asked for a list of people that Mr Trump “frequently spoke to”.
Williams’ name appeared on the Excel spreadsheet list sent to her.
Among the other names were members of the Trump family, his former personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen, and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Schwarzenegger, Woods, Wahlberg and Wiliams for comment.
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