Fake News and Failed Friendships : An Analysis of Trump , Pecker , and the National Enquirer
a Federal Election Commission complaint claiming the $ 150,000 payment to Karen McDougal represented an illegal campaign contribution . AMI denied any wrongdoing , while also saying its cooperation with investigators would not extend beyond its constitutionally protected status as a news organization . Cameron Stracher , a lawyer for AMI , contended that “ It ’ s easy to look down at the work product of celebrity magazines and assume they are not entitled to the same protections as the mainstream media ” ( Briquelet 1 ).
Pecker fulfilled his settlement with McDougal . She appeared on the September 2018 cover of Men ’ s Journal . The issue contained her story , “ Four Moves for Stronger Abs ” ( September 2018 ) despite the protestations of the magazine ’ s CFO that it would hurt advertising revenue ( Maddow , August 10 , 2018 ).
In a letter from John Khuzami , acting attorney general for the Southern District of New York , dated September 30 , 2018 , under the heading Exhibit A , Statement of Admitted Facts , AMI attorneys admitted that they made a $ 150,000 payment at the suggestion of agents of a candidate in the 2016 election to ensure a woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate in an effort to influence that election . They further stipulated that in August 2015 , Pecker , Cohen , “ and at least one other member of the campaign ” met to coordinate how best to deal with “ negative story about the candidates relationships with women .” AMI agreed to implement specific improvements to prevent future violations of campaign finance law .
“ This is a remarkable surrender of any First Amendment protections they might otherwise claim ,” said Edward Wasserman , dean at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism . “ It basically gives complete and unbridled discretion to the prosecutors of the DOJ to ask whatever they like and
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