National Enquirer owner David Pecker is already in trouble for paying off Karen McDougal, one of Donald Trump's many accusers. During his testimony Wednesday, former "fixer" Michael Cohen said that Trump was supposed to pay Pecker $125,000 for the story of McDougal, but never did.
“I was involved in several of these catch-and-kill episodes. But these catch-and-kill scenarios existed between David Pecker and Mr. Trump long before I started working in 2007," Cohen testified.
When asked if there were more women, Cohen said no, those additional payoffs from Pecker did not include other women. In a later question from Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) about Cohen recording his clients, Norman asked about why he taped Trump. The reason he gave opens even more question about money paid or not paid to Pecker.
“I had a reason for doing it. Because I knew he wasn’t going to pay that money, and David Pecker had already chewed me out on multiple occasions regarding other monies that he expended,” Cohen explained.
It's unclear what all Pecker paid to quash allegations against Trump and if any of those allegations are true.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked about Pecker and Cohen's understanding that there is a 'treasure trove' of documents in the AMI offices that detail all of the "catch-and-kill" incidents with Trump. Cohen said that he didn't know anything about what was in the documents and had requested then from Pecker but never received them.
AMI entered into a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller and prosecutors, but it appears they may have breached that agreement when they attempted to extort Jeff Bezos.
