The owner of the tabloid publication “National Enquirer” has agreed to pay $187,500 to the Federal Election Commission to settle complaints that it unlawfully aided Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 by suppressing the story of an actress who said she had a sexual relationship with Trump, Politico reports.
According to Politico, “The FEC concluded that American Media Inc., now known as A360 Media LLC, made an illegal corporate contribution to Trump’s campaign by paying Karen McDougal $150,000 to give up the rights to her story about Trump.”
David Pecker, the owner of the Enquirer, initially argued through attorneys that “they acted as journalists” in making the deal with McDougal. But the FEC rejected the claims that the Enquirer was simply acting as a news outlet.
In 2018 the firm and Pecker entered into a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in New York, stipulating that the arrangement was intended to influence the 2016 presidential election.
An FEC legal analysis concluded that “the available information supports the conclusion that AMI’s payment constituted an in-kind contribution to Trump and the Trump Committee. AMI and Pecker appear to have violated the Act by making and consenting to making a corporate contribution in the form of a payment from AMI to McDougal. As explained below, the record indicates that there is reason to believe that this violation was knowing and willful.”
As noted by Politico, “the FEC also concluded that AMI and Pecker coordinated with the Trump campaign, because they had contact with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who assured the company that its expenses related to McDougal would be reimbursed.”
Read the entire report here.
