The first criminal trial of a former president resumes Thursday with a key witness against Donald Trump expected to describe details of the hush money agreement that was struck on his behalf with porn star Stormy Daniels.

David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, is expected to outline his role in Daniels’ agreement, as well as another hush money deal involving Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claims she had a monthslong affair with Trump. McDougal alleges the affair began in 2006, the year Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with him. Trump has denied both women’s claims.

Pecker is expected to delve into the tawdry allegations in a New York City courtroom at the same time some of Trump’s attorneys will be at the Supreme Court in Washington arguing the federal election interference case against him should be dismissed because his actions were protected by presidential immunity.

Pecker, 72, was the first witness called by prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s case. In testimony Tuesday, he recounted his long friendship with Trump, which he said began in the late 1980s, and a pivotal meeting he had with Trump and his then-lawyer Michael Cohen at Trump Tower in 2015 after Trump launched his campaign for president. Hope Hicks, who would go on to become Trump’s White House communications director, was “in and out” of the meeting, Pecker said.

Pecker said that during the meeting, he agreed to act as Trump’s “eyes and ears” by watching out for any scandalous stories that could damage his candidacy and that he would help get rid of them.

He said the first time the Enquirer did so was when it paid $30,000 to a doorman who was selling a story about Trump’s fathering an illegitimate child, a tale that turned out to be “absolutely 1,000% untrue.” The deal in essence prevented the doorman from going public with his claim until after the 2016 election.

Pecker said the paper got a tip in June 2016 about McDougal, “a Playboy model who is trying to sell the story about a relationship that she had with Donald Trump for a year.” He said he alerted Cohen to her claims and then got a call from Trump.

Trump said Cohen “told me about Karen,” and he asked Pecker, “What do you think?” Pecker said he suggested to Trump that he buy the story, but Trump said, “I don’t buy any stories.”

“Any time you do anything like this, it always gets out,” Pecker quoted Trump as saying.

Pecker said he told Trump he thought it would be a good idea to “take this story off the market.” He said Trump responded, “Let me think about it, and I’ll have Michael Cohen call you back in a few days.”

Pecker is expected to explain Thursday how the Enquirer subsequently cut a $150,000 deal with McDougal to keep her quiet and his role in Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels for a nondisclosure agreement. Prosecutors said the Daniels deal was struck in the weeks before Election Day 2016, when Trump’s campaign was reeling from the emergence of the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape. The tape included a hot mic moment from 2005 that caught Trump, then the star of “The Apprentice,” saying he could kiss and grope women without their consent because “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to money prosecutors say he used to repay Cohen for the hush money payment. He has pleaded not guilty.