The National Enquirer, helmed by David Pecker, was reportedly keeping a safe full of documents detailing scandals and payoffs involving Donald Trump. On Thursday it was revealed that Pecker received an immunity deal when he shared information with authorities regarding Michael Cohen’s payoffs to Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels.
In Pecker’s betrayal of Trump and Cohen, court documents revealed that the Enquirer kept a vault filled with documents detailing hush-money payments and other stories that could hurt Trump’s reputation. The Enquirer reportedly bought the rights to McDougal’s story and then killed it — a practice not unusual for the media outlet. According to the Associated Press, the documents were stored with embarrassing stories about other famous people.
Apparently, when The Wall Street Journal published partial details about Trump’s alleged payout to McDougal shortly before the 2016 elections, the files regarding Trump were taken out of the safe. It is not known whether they were moved elsewhere or destroyed.
David Pecker reportedly wielded the safe filled with other people’s secrets as a “great source of power.” It seems that in this scenario, that approach paid off.
