President Trump was the third person in the August 2015 meeting when former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and National Enquirer Publisher David Pecker discussed killing stories about allegations of extramarital affairs against the then-presidential candidate, according to a bombshell report Thursday.
Reports of Mr. Trump’s participation in the meeting could raise more questions about his involvement in alleged campaign finance violations. Any payments made as part of the campaign would need to be disclosed under federal law.
Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday disclosed an immunity agreement with American Media Inc., the publisher of The Enquirer.
As part of that agreement, AMI admitted paying $150,000 in order to silence Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed to have had an affair with Mr. Trump years earlier year. Mr. Trump has denied the affair.
The payment was made “in concert with the campaign,” and was arranged by Cohen, Mr. Pecker and “at least one other member of the campaign.”
That unidentified person is Mr. Trump, according to reports by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is investigating the hush money payments to Ms. McDougal and Stormy Daniels, declined to comment to NBC News.
Mr. Trump said Thursday he never directed Cohen to break the law.
“He was lawyer and he is supposed to know the law,” the president said on Twitter, placing the blame squarely on Cohen who was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for his role in facilitating the hush payments.
As part of its agreement with federal prosecutors, AMI is cooperating with the government and admitted the payment was made to Ms. McDougal in order to suppress damaging information about Mr. Trump during the campaign.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.