Here's a roll call of celebrities mentioned in Trump trial: From Serena Williams to Arnold Schwarzenegger
5 celebrities mentioned in Donald Trump's hush money trial
The historic hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump unexpectedly dragged the names of some A-list celebrities from various fields into the Manhattan courtroom, including tennis player Serena Willaims and Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger. For more than a month, the prosecution and defense heard testimonies from several witnesses to reach a final verdict on Trump's 34 counts for falsifying business records to cover up the $130K payoff to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election in exchange of her silence about their alleged affair. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. The celebrities whose names were dropped during the trial are not accused of any wrongdoing. Here are the high-profile names the witnesses unexpectedly mentioned during their testimonies.
1. Serena Williams
Another A-lister who made it to the list of celebrities mentioned at the hush money trial was tennis legend Serena Williams. The 45th president's former White House executive, Madeleine Westerhout, testified that Trump "frequently spoke" to the sports star in early 2017. The name cropped up during her testimony about her emails with former Trump Organization employee Rhona Garff. In one such email from January 24, 2017, less than a week after Trump was sworn in as president, the former aide asked for a list of people the then-POTUS had often contacted. William's name was on the spreadsheet list she received.
2. Tiger Woods
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's testimony included mention of golf superstar Tiger Woods. During cross-examination by Trump's attorney Emil Bove, he stated that he had photographs of Woods meeting a woman in a Florida parking lot in 2007. Pecker testified he leveraged the photographs to coerce the golfer to appear on the cover of American Media Inc's Men's Fitness magazine.
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger
David Pecker who took the stand as the first witness, brought up bodybuilder and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger's name while testifying about the "catch-and-kill" scheme and the "checkbook journalism." The witness said he had an agreement with the former California governor, similar to the one he had with Trump, to bury the negative stories about them. As per the testimony during his gubernatorial campaign, Schwarzenegger said to Pecker, "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." The ex-National Enquirer publisher testified, "The agreement I had with Arnold was that 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." However, after being elected in 2003, The Los Angeles Times published a woman's story Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc, had acquired.
4. Mark Wahlberg
Actor Mark Wahlberg's name also unexpectedly came up during Pecker's testimony. 'The Departed' star had the same deal with the former National Enquirer publisher to bury a negative story about him. As per the testimony, Pecker acquired a story about an argument between Wahlberg and his wife, which never got published.
5. Hulk Hogan
Wrestler and actor Hulk Hogan's name was dropped during Daniels' former attorney Keith Davidson's testimony. During cross-examination, Trump's defense forced the attorney to admit the FBI investigated him to portray him as an extortionist. He was compelled to declare, despite not being charged, that the FBI investigation was about his alleged shot to extort Mr Hogan to prevent the release of a sex tape.
