Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker speaks from the witness stand during former US President Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in the Manhattan state court in New York City, USA April 22, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who testified at Donald Trump's criminal trial last month, was the target of a fake emergency on the same day he took the stand in New York, according to police records seen by Reuters.
The previously unreported April 25 “swatting” incident, or the filing of a false report to provoke a potentially dangerous response, is one in a wave of violent threats against U.S. officials and other public figures in recent years. years.
An individual using the name “Jamal” claimed in an email to a local newspaper that he had tied up his wife in the basement and murdered his wife's lover. Jamal gave the address of the crime as Pecker's home in Greenwich, Connecticut.
“I did very poorly,” Jamal wrote. “Please help me.”
The Greenwich Police incident report stated that when police were notified of the email, they were already aware of Pecker's home address because he was “involved in a highly publicized lawsuit.”
“A check… revealed no emergency situation,” said the report, which was seen by Reuters through a records request. “The email was likely an attempt at 'swatting by proxy'.” Reuters could not confirm whether any arrests had been made.
It appeared to be the first report of an attempted beating against someone who testified in the 12-day hush-money trial of the Republican presidential candidate.
On the day of the swatting attempt, Pecker testified that he had argued with Trump and his former lawyer prior to the 2016 presidential election over who should buy the silence of women who said they had sexual encounters with Trump.
It does not appear that Pecker was home at the time of the incident, which was reported at 4:44 p.m. Another unnamed resident was home, according to the report.
Elkan Abramowitz, an attorney for Pecker, declined to comment.
Reuters reviewed several emergency calls to authorities about hoax calls in the US from a person identified only as “Jamal,” who called police to say he had killed his wife.
The fake email “Jamal” sent about Pecker's home came from the address nobody@dizum.com, according to the Greenwich police report, which described the email address as untraceable.
