The jury in the trial was presented with a side agreement between two individuals referred to as David Dennison and Peggy Peterson. These names are pseudonyms used for Trump and Stormy Daniels respectively.
It was revealed that Trump's name was not included in the agreement, and he did not sign it. According to Cohen, Trump's attorney at the time, the reason for Trump's absence from the agreement was to prevent his name from appearing due to his status as a presidential candidate. Cohen stated that he initialed 'EC' in the signature spaces on behalf of Essential Consultants.