Even as impeachment hearings against Donald Trump threaten his presidency over his attempt to strong-arm Ukraine into investigating Trump’s domestic political foe, Joe Biden, the Stormy Daniels “hush money” case that surfaced in Daniels’ lawsuit against Trump last year just will not go away.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York City is investigating the $130,000 payment made to Daniels via Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, shortly before the 2016 presidential election. According to a CNN report on Monday, those local prosecutors have now questioned David Pecker, CEO of American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer tabloid.
The hush money was intended to silence Daniels from revealing a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, according to Daniels’ lawsuit.
Pecker took part in discussions with Cohen and another as-yet-unidentified member of the Trump campaign in 2015. Those talks focused on potentially damaging stories about Trump that the Enquirer may be able to suppress.
In one known instance, the paper did just that, paying $150,000 to former Playboy centerfold model Karen McDougal, who said she had a months-long sexual affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007.
In a “catch and kill” operation, the Enquirer bought exclusive rights to McDougal’s account and then simply "killed" the story.
Though the Enquirer is not known to be directly involved in the payoff to Daniels, prosecutors appear to believe that Pecker has information about the hush money deal, according to the CNN report.
During the 2016 campaign, the Enquirer frequently ran stories attacking Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton, often with blatantly false allegations. One headline claimed, “Hillary Gains 103 Lbs!” while another blared, “Hillary: Six Months to Live!”
The paper even ran a story claiming to be an interview with a “Hillary Hitman.”
The Enquirer also frequently ran highly flattering headlines and photographs of Trump on its front page. Another AMI tabloid, the Globe, also pushed Trump’s candidacy hard, running such stories as “Don’t Mess With Donald Trump!” and “Donald Trump Schools the Pope on Vital American Security.”
Pecker last year signed a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, and is believed to have provided information about the Daniels and McDougal payoff cases to the feds as well. What type of agreement Pecker may have with the local prosecutors remains unclear, according to the CNN report.
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