The National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., reportedly shredded documents related to President Trump, according to a new book.
Author Ronan Farrow wrote in his new book “Catch and Kill: Spies and Conspiracy to Protect Predators” that the destruction of the documents — which were previously held in a safe — was ordered by then Enquirer editor in chief Dylan Howard.
“The staffer opened the safe, removed a set of documents, and tried to wrest it shut,” Mr. Farrow wrote in a book excerpt that appeared in Politico Monday. “Later, reporters would discuss the safe like it was the warehouse where they stored the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones, but it was small and cheap and old.”
The documents were reportedly shredded on the same day a Wall Street Journal reporter called the Enquirer and asked for comment about payments they made to keep Playboy model Karen McDougal quiet before the election
Additionally, a list of the documents was allegedly made at the request of Mr. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who has since gone to prison for campaign finance violations.
“There was an internal debate: some were starting to realize that surrendering it all would create a legally problematic paper trail, and resisted,” Mr. Farrow wrote in the book. “Nevertheless, Howard and senior staff ordered the reporting material that wasn’t already in the small safe exhumed from storage bins in Florida and sent to AMI headquarters.”
Mr. Farrow wrote that employees found several documents missing when they cross-referenced them with the list.
In statements to Politico, AMI called Farrow’s claims unsubstantiated, and Mr. Howard’s lawyer said they would provide “no further comment” in case they pursued legal action.
Mr. Howard has allegedly hired numerous attorneys to stop the publication of the book “Catch and Kill,” which deep-dives into the Enquirer’s process of killing negative stories about powerful figures such as Mr. Trump and Harvey Weinstein.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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