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National Enquirer Executives Had Safe Containing Dirt on Trump

HeadlineAug 24, 2018

Executives at the National Enquirer kept a safe holding documents detailing hush money payments and other damaging stories the tabloid killed as part of a cozy relationship with Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election. That’s according to the Associated Press, which reports the executives emptied the safe after Trump’s election victory. It’s not known whether the documents were preserved. The revelation came as it emerged that David Pecker, chairman and CEO of the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media, Inc., was granted immunity by federal prosecutors as they built a case against Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. David Pecker has been a close friend of Donald Trump for decades; his cooperation with federal prosecutors raises the prospect of new information about Trump’s past behavior. Michael Cohen admitted in court Tuesday that President Trump directed him to illegally pay out money to two women to keep them from speaking during the 2016 campaign about their alleged affairs with Donald Trump. The payments involved the Enquirer, which acquired exclusive rights to the stories and refused to publish them in a process known as “catch-and-kill.”

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