‘Sleazy Relationship’: Jake Tapper Shreds Trump’s Arrangement With David Pecker and How He Pushed Wild Stories While On Fox News

CNN’s Jake Tapper pulled no punches on Tuesday when covering Donald Trump’s past dealing with former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, which is central to Trump’s hush money trial.

“I mean, there’s nothing illegal about this sleazy relationship they had, such as when the National Enquirer helped Trump falsely accuse Ted Cruz’s father of having somehow been mixed up in the Kennedy assassination,” Tapper noted, adding:

And let’s run this clip. This is Trump calling into Fox & Friends back in May 2016. Just to remind people, it’s basically at this point, it’s basically between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. And Trump calls into Fox & Friends to bring their attention to this National Enquirer story. Listen.

Tapper then ran a clip where Trump says of Cruz, “His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald being, you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous. What is this? Right? Prior to his being shot, and nobody even brings it up. I mean, they don’t even talk about that. That was reported. And nobody talks about it, but I think it’s horrible.”

“Again, not illegal for the National Enquirer to do that or for Donald Trump to call into Fox & Friends or for Fox & Friends to just sit there and let him do it. Right, Elliot?” Tapper said to CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams.

“No, absolutely. And what you’re seeing here is a pattern of conduct where the National Enquirer would, number one, suppress bad stories about the former president. Number two, pushed stories that were critical of his opponents, Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton. Again, not impermissible, but the prosecutors here are attempting to establish a pattern of conduct that ultimately leads to exactly what Adam was talking about. Once you start getting into the financial transactions to cover it all up,” Williams replied.

Williams went on to explain that the prosecution in Trump’s hush money case must prove that not only did Trump falsify business documents, but that doing so was a felony as it also violated election laws.

Watch the clip above via CNN.