Ex-tabloid publisher gives evidence about scheme to shield Trump

Former president Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court (Spencer Platt/Pool/AP)

The former publisher of the National Enquirer gave evidence on Thursday at Donald Trump’s hush money trial about going to great lengths to help shield his old friend from potentially damaging stories, using a catch-and-kill scheme prosecutors allege amounted to interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

At the same time, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in a different criminal matter involving former US president Trump, who has claimed that he should be immune from prosecution over his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.