Trump biographer reveals the president had him investigated: 'The whole model is extortion'

During an MSNBC panel discussion on the National Enquirer's alleged attempt to blackmail Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos with photos they claim they found when investigating him, a Trump biographer recalled that the president once had him investigated looking for dirt.

Appearing on AM Joy, David Cay Johnston recalled that while he was working on a book about the future president he discovered Trump was making inquiries into his personal life.

"We know about the relationship, we know where the catch-and-kill agreements to either put out -- to bury stories about potential sexual affairs by Donald Trump and also that there were negative stories, nasty stories about his political enemies published in the National Enquirer, what is this relationship about?" host Joy Reid asked.

"Well, Donald has long had other people investigated to try and get them to back off. He did it to me," Johnston replied. "And the whole model here is one of, as we've been discussing, extortion -- of suppressing news."

"A lot of things I've written about Donald Trump in my biography, 'The Making of Donald Trump,' they're not in the news for reasons that in some cases have to do with his threatening news organizations if they touched those stories, even though they're in the public record," he added. "And in the past, journalists who have committed extortion like this go to jail."

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