When the National Enquirer’s Owner Admitted to 'Burying' Stories for Donald Trump: 'Catch-And-Kill'
In 2018, American Media Inc. (AMI) informed prosecutors that it worked with Donald Trump's campaign when it bought rights to Karen McDougal's story of a sexual affair with Trump, which it suppressed to 'prevent it from influencing the election.' The publisher of National Enquirer said at the time that it coordinated with Trump's presidential campaign to pay a Playboy model $150,000 in hush money, increasing the legal risk for the President and his inner circle, as per The Associated Press.
A nonprosecution agreement between the prosecution and American Media was made public without mentioning Trump and said that the transaction was conducted in "cooperation, consultation, and concert with... one or more members or agents of a candidate's 2016 presidential campaign." In a similar vein, McDougal, the former Playboy model in question, was not identified in the filing despite reaching out to an editor of the National Enquirer in June 2016 to try to sell her story of a ten-month-long alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump between 2006 and 2007.
Prosecutors eventually made the agreement public following the sentencing of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen when he entered a guilty plea to charges of making unlawful campaign contributions in the form of hush money payments to McDougal and Stormy Daniels, also known as Stephanie Clifford, a porn star who claimed to have had a similar affair with Trump.
AMI, which had a long-standing friendship with Trump and the firm's CEO, David Pecker, reportedly maintained a safe that included records of hush-money payments made to McDougal and other embarrassing stories that the company suppressed. By maintaining such secrecy, the business seemingly gained the trust of celebrities and used the knowledge to request favors in exchange. According to former staff members of The National Enquirer, negative pieces about the former President were written and considered dead on arrival at the tabloid as far back as Trump's time on NBC's The Apprentice. The AP also found that that the funds were only a 'simple private transaction' rather than a political donation, and Trump rejected the accusations.
According to the nonprosecution agreement, Cohen, at least one other member of the Trump campaign, and Pecker, the chairman and CEO of American Media and a steadfast Trump supporter, met in August 2015 to begin the covert intervention on the President's behalf. Pecker 'offered to help deal with negative stories' that could jeopardize Trump's presidential candidacy at the meeting, according to the lawsuit, by 'assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided.' This questionable ethical move is known in journalism as a 'catch-and-kill.'
According to the terms of the agreement, American Media promised to publish over 100 of McDougal's written magazine pieces and to feature her on two magazine covers. In April 2019, American Media sold Hudson News Distributors the National Enquirer and a few additional newspapers. The National Examiner and Globe were purchased by VVIP from magazine publisher a360 Media in an all-cash transaction last year; however, the precise financial details were not made public.
