(The Hill) – The former magazine publisher at the center of former President Trump’s criminal hush money trial was “swatted” on the day he testified in the case, Reuters reported Monday.
An unidentified person claimed in an April 25 email that they had tied up their wife in the basement of their home and killed a person, giving the address of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker in Greenwich, Conn.
Greenwich Police wrote in a report reviewed by Reuters that officers were already stationed at Pecker’s home because of his involvement in the high-profile case, and that there was no incident.
“Swatting” is an increasingly common form of internet harassment, with the false reports attempting to elicit a potentially dangerous police response. Multiple lawmakers from both parties were hit by a string of “swatting” incidents last December and January.
Pecker’s incident appeared to be the first time a person associated with Trump’s legal cases fell victim to the practice.
Trump’s case centers on allegations that he improperly made hush money payments to cover up a previous alleged affair, and that he worked with Pecker on a “catch and kill” scheme to prevent news of the story from making the press in the weeks before the 2016 election.
Pecker testified late last month that he did help Trump by burying the story of his alleged affair and other stories with the intention of helping his presidential campaign.
“I made the decision to purchase the story because of the potential embarrassment it had to the campaign and to Mr. Trump,” Pecker testified.