Popular Culture Review Volume 30, Number 2, Summer 2019 | Page 149

Popular Culture Review 30.2
her goals .” He added Stris represented the wishes of his client , and this settlement did not affect a criminal case brought by the US Attorney ’ s Office for the Southern District of New York against Cohen for possible campaign finance law violations and improper lobbying activities ( Maddow President , 2018 ).
New York Times writer Matt Apuzzo in “ Lawyer ’ s Secret Tape Reveals Trump ’ s Talk of Payments to Model ” described about tapes and emails seized from Michael Cohen ’ s office . At about the same time , Federal authorities subpoenaed evidence from Pecker and offered him limited immunity for his testimony . The evidence thus gathered proved McDougal ’ s contention that Cohen , Pecker , and Davidson discussed her settlement unbeknownst to her . One tape revealed Trump considered buying the rights to McDougal ’ s story as a way of reimbursing Pecker ( July 21 , 2018 , p . A1 ). Another tape revealed he considered forming a corporation to buy Pecker ’ s safe full of secrets ( Rutenberg Immunity 1 ). The tapes also indicated that Trump and Cohen discussed how to repay Pecker for picking up the tab on the McDougal ’ s affair , which the notoriously parsimonious president eventually did .
Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts of tax evasion , bank fraud , and campaign finance charges on August 21 , 2018 ( US District Court ). He told the judge that he made payments to McDougal and Daniels , “ in coordination with the direction of a candidate for federal office ” ( Rashbaum para . 1 ). He identified that person as Donald Trump who “ knew about everything ” and “ approved everything ” ( Ruiz 1 ).
The headline of the Daily News on August 24 , 2018 , read , “ Pecker in a Vise , Enquirer Honcho grabs immunity as feds put squeeze on catch-and-kill enabler ” ( 1 ). Pecker turned against his lifelong friend because he and his company faced
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