Pecker said he first heard of Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who also alleges she had an extramarital affair with Trump, in June 2016 from Dylan Howard, former editor in chief of the National Enquirer.

Howard said McDougal was trying to sell a story about a yearlong affair with Trump. As with Dino Sajudin’s story, Pecker said he called Michael Cohen to inform him about McDougal’s claim. Once again, Cohen denied it.

“I didn’t even finish the conversation when Cohen said ‘untrue,'” Pecker reportedly said on the stand. He then explained to Cohen that he thought this story was “a little different” than Sajudin’s — and suggested that Howard fly to California to interview McDougal and that he would keep Cohen in the loop.

Pecker and Cohen’s phone conversations about McDougal became more frequent, Pecker said — sometimes twice a day. At one point, Cohen suggested they “talk over a landline” and use Signal, an encrypted app, to ensure privacy. Over time, Pecker said Cohen grew “agitated” about wanting constant updates and was under a lot of “pressure” from Trump to bury the story.