The publisher of the National Enquirer has been subpoenaed by Manhattan federal prosecutors for documents pertaining to the payment of former playboy model Karen McDougal, who claims she had a sexual relationship with President Trump, over the exclusive rights to her story.
The American Media Inc. subpoena is related to a criminal investigation to determine if of Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen violated tax or campaign finance laws, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In March, McDougal sued American Media to be released from a 2016 legal agreement that forces her to not speak of the relationship. The lawsuit asserts that Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was covertly involved and led her astray in the arrangement.
As a result, investigators are seeking to determine if the $150,000 payment to McDougal broke campaign finance laws and whether Cohen conspired with American Media Inc. to pay McDougal and then not run the story about her affair with Trump.
The company denies that McDougal was paid in an effort to silence her.
“American Media Inc., has, and will continue to, comply with any and all requests that do not jeopardize or violate its protected sources or materials pursuant to our first amendment rights,” a company spokesman said, per the Wall Street Journal.
Cohen’s home and office were raided by the FBI in April, where agents seized computers, phones, and other materials of Cohen’s. Records related to McDougal were obtained in the raid.
It was reported Tuesday that Cohen, who has not been charged with a crime yet, had hired Guy Petrillo to represent him ahead of federal court proceedings in New York. Petrillo previously led the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, the same office that is probing Cohen’s business dealings.
The White House and Trump have denied that he was involved in a relationship with McDougal.
