Lindsey Graham Dismisses David Pecker's Claims of Catching and Killing Stories Before 2016 Elections

Donald Trump's ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, denied the 'catch and kill' schemes narrated by the ex-National Enquirer publisher, David Pecker, in his testimony during the ongoing criminal trial in New York. CNN's Dana Bash confronted Graham about Pecker's claims of buying negative stories about Trump ahead of the 2016 elections. 

The 68-year-old stated, "You know, apparently a lot of people do this. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, I think the whole thing is a crock. The statute of limitations has long shut out the misdemeanor cases. So, this liberal prosecutor in Manhattan came up with a federal campaign violation that the Southern District of New York looked at, the Federal Elections Commission looked at, and [Department of Justice special counsel] Jack Smith looked at, and decided not to prosecute." 

He added, "Alvin Bragg took a case rejected by the federal government to resurrect these misdemeanors as a political hit job on Trump six months before the [2024] election." In response, host Bash interjected, "Obviously, Tiger Woods is not running for president and the allegation is about campaigns." Graham chuckled, "Yeah, I got it. But I think the whole thing's B.S. Political B.S."

Trump's hush money trial that began on April 15, 2024, heard its first witness in the case, Pecker, who made some explosive claims. Stormy Daniels, a.k.a. Stephanie Gregory Clifford, alleged a sexual affair with the Republican front-runner back in 2006 when his wife Melania Trump gave birth to his son Barron Trump. 

Daniels received a payment of $130,000 from Trump's former attorney and a fixer for a decade, Michael Cohen, who previously admitted in his testimony (in A.G Letitia James' civil fraud case) that he paid the porn star out of his 'own pocket' to buy her silence before the 2016 elections. 

Additionally, Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, alleged that she had a ten-month sexual relationship with the ex-president. Pecker confessed in his testimony that he, alongside Cohen, also bought the story of McDougal for $150,000, to 'kill' the story so it doesn't 'hurt' or 'embarrass' Trump's campaign ahead of the 2016 election.

Fast forward to the present, Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts in the ongoing trial but has vehemently denied the allegations against him, calling the trial 'a disgrace'. Instead, he attacked Judge Juan Merchan and violated a gag order by bad-mouthing his family, including his daughter Loren Merchan, who worked alongside VP Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential election campaign. 

Meanwhile, Graham is a Trump loyal and he claimed to be one even if the GOP front-runner is 'convicted'. When Bash quizzed him if he'd support Trump, the South Carolina senator responded, "Absolutely."

According to HuffPost, he added, "Most people have written this off. They're going to focus on their problems, not a bunch of cases brought by liberals against Trump."