The National Enquirer and Freedom of Suppression

[_MeDotOrg]

We think of the press has shining light into areas that might not see light, that the purpose of a free press is to uncover the truth.

For the rich, powerful and connected, the press also has the freedom to suppress, and to cover up. One of the things the FBI was looking for in the Michael Cohen files was correspondence with AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer. AMI is owned by David Pecker, who is a long time personal friend of Trump. We now know that, in addition to the money paid to Karen McDougal, AMI paid $30,000 to a doorman at Trump Tower for a story it never intended to run. The process is called 'catch and kill', where a newspaper buys the exclusive rights to a story and then buries it.

There also seems to be a lot of interest in Cohen's bank records. Areas of interest would be false statements for bank loans, and I would assume any transfer of monies between Cohen and AMI. But David Pecker now has a chit with Donald Trump, a solid 'ya owe me' to cash in at some time. You have leverage when you own a catch and kill story about a powerful person.

Also today we find out that Cohen was a go-between for a $1,600,000 payment to another Playboy model in a paternity suit. Elliott Broidy, the deputy finance chairman of the RNC, resigned today when the agreement became public.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, remember that Steve Wynn, the RNC finance Chairman, resigned a few weeks ago over sexual harassment allegations. He paid out over $7.5 million to an employee he forced into sex.

So the Finance Chair and the Deputy Finance Chair of the RNC both resign after paying out millions of dollars in secret agreements. The Deputy finance chair has his hush money handled by Michael Cohen, who is an old pro from doing this for Donald Trump.

Money, sex, power, control, secrecy. Welcome to the new Republican Party.

But it doesn't matter because Trump is doing, you know, God's work.