National Enquirer Agrees To Pay $187,500 For Breaking Election Law In 2016 To Help Trump
HuffPost
The Federal Election Commission said the tabloid "knowingly and willfully" broke the law when it bought model Karen McDougal's story.
The owner of the National Enquirer has agreed to pay a $187,500 civil penalty to the Federal Election Commission for unlawfully aiding former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign by suppressing a story about a woman who said she had an affair with him. The FEC said Tuesday that it found reason to believe American Media, Inc. (AMI) ― the parent company of the Enquirer ― and former AMI CEO David Pecker “knowingly and willfully” made a prohibited corporate contribution to Trump’s campaign when it bought model Karen McDougal’s story for $150,000 in August 2016. AMI ― now known as A360 Media, LLC ― and Pecker, a friend of Trump, had no intention of running the story, seeking to influence the 2016 election by suppressing a potentially unflattering story about Trump, according to the FEC. This tactic is known as “catch and kill” in which a publication buys the rights to a story to block an individual from going public with it as a favor to a third party.More Related News