Throughout the 2016 campaign and even after the inauguration, President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen would regularly receive digital copies of National Enquirer articles and cover images related to Trump and his political opponents before they went to press, three people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post.
Trump is close to David Pecker, the CEO of American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer. The stories passed along about Trump were always positive, the Post reports, and if Cohen made any changes, it was to pick a more flattering photo. Trump, several people said, would pitch stories to Pecker and also saw them before they went to print, including an article about Hillary Clinton's health and another about former GOP presidential primary rival Dr. Ben Carson allegedly botching operations.
Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign adviser, told the Post that the Enquirer was "such a help to Trump during the primary and even the general" that it was basically free advertising. The company's chief content officer, Dylan Howard, denied that the Trump camp had a say in the articles, adding that if the stories ever were shared, "it was not at the behest of me or David."
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In April, FBI agents raided the office and home of Cohen, and people with knowledge of the matter say they took his records related to AMI, Pecker, Howard, and payments made to women who say they had affairs with Trump.
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