Ex-judge leaves Internet fuming as he calls David Pecker ‘outstanding’ first witness in Trump trial

WASHINGTON, DC: In the ongoing hush money trial of former President Donald Trump, Florida Judge Jeff Swartz commended former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker as an "outstanding" first witness and called him "incredibly credible," stated The Hill. 

Notably, Swartz said during his Saturday appearance on CNN, "I think David pecker was an outstanding choice for the first witness. He set the stage and he set the whole scene up for the jury."

Jeff Swartz calls David Pecker ‘outstanding’ first witness in Trump trial

He added, "And he was really very good on cross-examination. I don’t think that he actually got impeached in any really serious way. I think that people are going to look at his testimony and start building around it."

He further stated, "I think the jury paid attention to him from all accounts, they pay very close attention to him. And I think he was incredibly credible. And I think that that really went a long way for the prosecution."

Moreover, Swartz praised Pecker's conduct under cross-examination, pointing out that Trump's attorneys did "very little" to undermine his credibility. 

Swartz said, "But when it got really intense, when it was really down to Trump and Hillary [Clinton], who were running for president, things got really intense at AMI and they ran a lot of stories beyond what they used to run," adding, "I think that that became pretty clear too that this was part of what needed to be done to help the campaign."

Notably, Pecker was chosen to testify as the first witness in Trump's first criminal trial. His testimony, which covered all four days of the trial, provided more insight into the National Enquirer's involvement in dispelling unfavorable rumors about the former president and spreading unfavorable, frequently untrue, rumors about his foes.

During the redirect examination, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass questioned, referring to Trump as the candidate in question, "Did you suppress the stories to help a presidential candidate?" to which Pecker replied, "Yes I did."

According to Swartz, the prosecutors need to "start dealing with more of the records to help with Michael Cohen" as they proceeded to develop their case against the former president.

He added, "I think that they’re also going to start bringing in other people who work basically on the campaign to set the stage again, for what Mr Trump’s attitude was and his anger that he exhibited, and his fear of things coming out as it related to the campaign and the discussions that took place relating to the campaign that sets the stage for Michael Cohen to finish it off."

Internet weighs in as Jeff Swartz hails Pecker as ‘outstanding’ witness

Jeff Swartz was subsequently slammed on social media for his statement about David Pecker, with several also leaving unfavorable comments about the latter.

A user wrote on X, "A judge making a statement like that is grounds for dismissal. Period," while one added, "I’m sorry but 'incredibly credible'? And he’s a judge?"

Someone else noted, "Trump is so scared of Pecker, the question is what dirt does Pecker have on Trump???" while another stated, "Absolutely nothing about this testimony proves Trump's guilt, in case you were wondering..."

A user noted, "Didn’t the National Enquirer( Scandal magazine) $ create a lot of fake expanded media stories to just create attention polls & a lot of money!"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.