Federal prosecutors have granted immunity to National Enquirer boss David Pecker in the Michael Cohen investigation, according to a report that signaled another in President Trump’s inner circle could be turning against him.
Mr. Pecker, the CEO of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, met with prosecutors to describe the involvement of Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump in the hush-money payments in 2016 to a woman who claimed to have had a sex romp with Mr. Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The National Enquirer paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal for her story about the affair and then shelved the story.
Mr. Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to eight counts, including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations in connection with the hush payments Ms. McDougal and the porn actress known as Stormy Daniels, who also claimed a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.
The guilty plea implicated Mr. Trump in the hush-money deals that were described as campaign finance violations.
Mr. Trump has insisted that he used his own money to pay off the women and that no laws were broken.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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