Federal prosecutors in New York granted immunity to David Pecker, the CEO of the company behind the National Enquirer, as part of their investigation into Michael Cohen, according to multiple reports.
Pecker met with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York to provide details on Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, about nondisclosure agreements Cohen brokered for Trump with women claiming to have had extramarital affairs with him, Vanity Fair reported Thursday.
American Media Inc’s National Enquirer became implicated in the Cohen case after it was revealed that it bought the story of ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal about her sexual encounters with Trump before the 2016 election, but did not publish it. The practice is described as “catching and killing” a story.
The Wall Street Journal confirmed Dylan Howard, AMI’s chief content officer, also will not be prosecuted as part of the Cohen criminal probe.
Cohen pleaded guilty in a New York federal district court on Tuesday to five tax evasion charges for failing to report $4 million in income from 2012 to 2016 and one count of making a false statement to a lending institution between 2015 and 2016 when applying for a home equity line of credit. He additionally pleaded guilty to charges associated with willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution in 2016 and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution in 2016.
[More: Did Michael Cohen actually commit campaign finance violations? Some legal experts aren’t sure]
Cohen’s contribution charges are believed to be tied to the hush money arrangements he made before the election with McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels in order to mitigate any damage their accounts could create for Trump’s campaign.
Pecker is a longtime associate of both Cohen and Trump.
