Insiders say National Enquirer gave Trump attorney sneak peeks of its coverage

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Three unnamed sources have told the Washington Post that it was “standard practice” at the National Enquirer to give Donald Trump’s attorney previews of content prior to publication:

• The sources say that the magazine routinely shared previews of covers and article text with Trump attorney Michael Cohen during the campaign.
• The same sources also say American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker and Trump have a “close” relationship that was tied to the “unusual” arrangement.
• Trump’s relationship to Pecker goes back decades.
• The sources also claim the practice has continued after Trump took office.
• American Media Inc. strongly denies that any of the claims are true.
• Though Pecker declined to comment, the company’s Chief Content Officer Dylan Howard said claims that Trump or Cohen saw advanced copies of content are “complete false.”
• Howard did point out that if content was shared prior to publication, it was not under the direction of him or Pecker.
• He went on to say that if content was shared in advanced, it was done by “rogues and renegades” within the company.
• Howard also pointed out that the Enquirer made a prominent endorsement of Trump, “So it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for me to commission stories on his opponents given that we had endorsed Donald Trump.”
• In late 2015, AMI paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman, but did not run any of his revelations, claiming there were concerns about the source’s credibility.
• In August 2016, former Playboy model Karen McDougal was paid $150,000 by AMI for details about her alleged 10-month affair with Trump, but the story was never published.