A key witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York has testified he bought images of Tiger Woods with another woman whilst he was married to Elin Nordegren and buried them in exchange for the iconic golfer appearing on the front cover of a magazine.
David Pecker appeared before the jury on day eight of Trump’s first ever criminal trial.
At the heart of the case is the alleged cover-up of money Trump’s then-lawyer paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors argue that Trump committed election fraud by falsifying business record to hide the payment carried out by his lawyer.
Their first witness was former National Enquirer publisher Pecker.
Pecker was the chief executive officer of American Media Inc, which operated Men’s Fitness.
He told the court that he bought photographs and blackmailed Woods.
Pecker said he buried the snaps in exchange for the iconic golfer appearing on the front cover of Men’s Fitness.
A 12-page story also accompanied the front page splash which involved Woods sharing details of his fitness regime, diet and marriage to Nordegren.
It has been speculated that the images showed Woods alongside a woman called Mindy Lawton.
Pecker said the images showed Woods sitting in a church carpark.
Woods’ extramarital affairs eventually came to light in 2009.Tiger Woods with Erica Herman
When Nordegren found out he had been sleeping with Rachel Uchitel, she chased him out of the house with a golf club.
Woods drove away in a panic and crashed into a fire hydrant, knocking himself out in the process.
Cops found him in a woozy state with a bloodied lip and it marked the beginning of a very public fall from grace.
Since then, Woods has been involved in several relationships, including to Olympic gold medallist Lindsey Vonn.
Woods’ most recent relationship saw him date Erica Herman from 2017 until 2022.
Herman was the general manager of his flagship restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, in Florida.
Their relationship came to an end, according to Herman, when he told her they were going for away for a short vacation only for the golfer to change the locks when she got to the airport
That came to light when Herman sued Woods last March, arguing the golfer owed her $30,000,000 after she was suddenly evicted from his mansion.
In a separate lawsuit, she attempted to have a non-disclosure agreement she signed with Woods nullified.
She cited the 2022 Speak Out Act as grounds for its dismissal.
The first lawsuit was dismissed after a judge took a dim view of her claims.
Herman then dropped her sexual harassment claim against Woods.
Woods, now 48, most recently competed in the 88th Masters at Augusta National.
He made the cut at the major he has won five times, but ended up finishing dead last.
His teenage son, Charlie, also attempted to qualify for this year’s U.S. Open but failed to make it through.
