The National Enquirer was more than a friendly outlet for Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. It was a powerful national political weapon which was put at the service of a single candidate, in violation of the law on the financing of electoral campaigns.
The tabloid’s former publisher, David Pecker, casually testified Tuesday about how the tabloid operated in tandem with the Trump campaign, “catching and killing” potentially damaging articles and running elaborate, false blockbuster stories about Trump’s opponents. Mr. Trump. But his practices were unusual, even in the wild news game of the supermarket tabloids.
By The Enquirer’s own admission — first made to federal prosecutors years ago during the prosecution of Mr. Trump’s confidant, Michael Cohen — the tabloid was operating with full intention to help Mr. Trump’s campaign.
Under the First Amendment, newspapers are allowed to endorse candidates. But The Enquirer’s support went beyond journalism: The publication paid $150,000 for an article about Playboy model Karen McDougal, was preparing to talk about an affair she said she had with the candidate. Then he didn’t publish anything.
This type of deal is not unusual in the tabloid news business, although it violates journalistic standards followed by major U.S. media outlets like this one, which have rules against paying sources.
But before 2016, there had never been a known agreement to facilitate a presidential campaign. In this context, The Enquirer’s payment violated federal campaign laws prohibiting companies from donating to presidential candidates – who are limited to receiving direct donations of $4,400 per person – and prohibiting them from coordinate election-related expenses with campaigns.
As The Enquirer’s parent company at the time, American Media, admitted in a “non-prosecution” agreement with the federal government in 2018: “AMI knew that companies such as AMI are subject to federal campaign finance laws, and that corporate expenditures made for the purpose of influencing an election and in coordination with or at the request of a candidate or campaign, are illegal. »
The deal made Tuesday’s testimony possible.
(THE Federal Election Commission subsequently fined The Enquirer’s parent company $187,000; Mr. Trump’s campaign escaped punishment.)
The Enquirer also brought hidden value to Mr. Trump: By ceding its coverage to his political needs, Mr. Pecker gave him the equivalent of free advertising space in most of the nation’s major supermarket checkout lines, there where the tabloid had long had privileged placement assured.
An expert said at the time that such exposure could be worth up to $3 million per month.
It’s potentially worth even more: The Enquirer’s agreement to keep from the queue not only Ms. McDougal’s story, but also the stash of Trump dirt it had in its own files — “the gold tabloids” which would never see the light of day.
