Donald Trump just got screwed by his own David Pecker
“President” Donald Trump has been silent and mostly unseen today. His former fixer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison and gave an unflattering (at best) assessment of Trump. Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, promised to reveal all, once Special Counsel Robert Mueller releases his final report.
The Southern District of New York issued its press release announcing Cohen’s sentence. Interestingly, a portion of the press release contains the news that the SDNY had reached a non-prosecution cooperation agreement with National Enquirer’s parent company, AMI, and its boss David Pecker. The press release revealed:
The Office also announced today that it has previously reached a non-prosecution agreement with AMI, in connection with AMI’s role in making the above-described $150,000 payment before the 2016 presidential election. As a part of the agreement, AMI admitted that it made the $150,000 payment in concert with a candidate’s presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election. AMI further admitted that its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.
Assuming AMI’s continued compliance with the agreement, the Office has agreed not to prosecute AMI for its role in that payment. The agreement also acknowledges, among other things, AMI’s acceptance of responsibility, its substantial and important assistance in this investigation, and its agreement to provide cooperation in the future and implement specific improvements to its internal compliance to prevent future violations of the federal campaign finance laws. These improvements include distributing written standards regarding federal election laws to its employees and conducting annual training concerning these standards.
The revelation anticipates “continued compliance with the agreement” and that means even more information that AMI and David Pecker have about the activities of Donald Trump, along with what stories it suppressed, what stories it may have initiated at Trump’s request, and other information. Better start packing an overnight bag, Trump. Every report and every speck of evidence continues to point to serious legal exposure for you and those in your orbit.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.