National Enquirer executives granted
immunity in Cohen probe: Vanity Fair, WSJ
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[August 24, 2018]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief
executive of the publisher of the National Enquirer was granted immunity
by prosecutors investigating payments arranged by U.S. President Donald
Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to silence two women who
said they had sex with Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported on
Wednesday.
Another AMI executive, Dylan Howard, also received immunity, Vanity Fair
magazine reported.
American Media Inc's (AMI) Chief Executive Officer David Pecker met with
prosecutors to describe Trump and Cohen's involvement in hush-money
deals with adult-film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen
McDougal ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Wall Street
Journal reported, citing sources. Pecker is a longtime friend of Trump
and Cohen.
Federal prosecutors in New York and the White House declined to comment.
AMI's general counsel, Eric Klee, did not respond to a request for
comment on the reports. Trump has denied having sex with Daniels or
McDougal.
Cooperation with authorities by Pecker and Howard could further
implicate Trump in connection with the payments, which prosecutors have
said violated campaign finance laws.
Cohen, who pleaded guilty on Tuesday to campaign finance violations and
other charges, said in court that Trump directed him to arrange the
payments to avoid damaging publicity shortly before the November 2016
election.
Pecker and Howard corroborated Cohen's account, according to Vanity
Fair.
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Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence, according to
court papers. McDougal, who has said she had a months-long affair with
Trump, sold her story for $150,000 to AMI but it was never published, a
practice known as “catch and kill” to prevent a potentially damaging
article from being published.
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported, citing people familiar with
the arrangement, that the Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on
hush-money payments and stories it killed as part of its relationship
with Trump in the run up to the 2016 election.
The Associated Press reported, citing one person with direct knowledge,
that the documents were removed from the safe prior to Trump's
inauguration and that it was unclear if they were moved to another site
or destroyed.
AMI's general counsel Klee did not respond to a separate request for
comment on the Associated Press story.
Trump initially denied knowing anything about the payments. He later
acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment to Daniels, whose real
name is Stephanie Clifford.
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![](../images/082418pics/news_w41.jpg)
David Pecker, Chairman and CEO of American Media speaks at the Shape
and Men's Fitness Super Bowl Party in New York City, U.S., January
31, 2014. Picture taken January 31, 2014. REUTERS/Marion Curtis
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_PREMIUM_081018.png)
In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Trump said he paid
Cohen out of personal funds and the payments were intended to
resolve a personal matter, not to benefit his campaign. He told Fox
he found out about the McDougal payment "later on."
Under U.S. election law, campaign contributions, defined as things
of value given to a campaign to influence an election, must be
disclosed.
A payment intended to silence allegations of an affair just before
an election could constitute a campaign contribution, which is
limited to $2,700 per person per election and must be reported, some
experts said.
While many legal experts have said that a sitting president cannot
be indicted, the reports could add to political pressure on Trump
ahead of the 2018 midterm congressional elections and could further
fuel talk of impeachment.
The investigation into Cohen stemmed in part from a referral by U.S.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether there
was coordination between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and
Russia. Trump has denied there was any collusion and has called the
investigation a "witch hunt."
Russia has denied meddling in the election. U.S. intelligence
agencies have concluded it did interfere.
In addition to the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid, AMI's
celebrity and health publications include Us Weekly, OK! and Men's
Journal.
(Reporting by Makini Brice in Washington, D.C.; Additional reporting
by Karen Freifeld in Washington and Nathan Layne and Brendan Pierson
in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Jonathan Oatis, Toni
Reinhold)
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