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Catch and Kill: National Enquirer's AMI Suppressed Stories to Protect Trump's 2016 Campaign

The National Enquirer's 'catch and kill' program operated by buying the rights to stories from people with negative accounts of Trump — paying them for exclusives and then killing the stories. AMI purchased stories involving alleged sexual affairs and other damaging material. Federal prosecutors concluded the scheme constituted illegal campaign contributions; AMI entered a non-prosecution agreement admitting this. David Pecker's cooperation was central to the conviction of Michael Cohen and the eventual conviction of Trump himself.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

Executive actions that exceed constitutional authority, circumvent statutory constraints, or weaponize government institutions for political ends. Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
New York, NY
Category
Corruption & Self-Dealing
Legal posture
Judicial finding
War-crime classification
Enabling conduct
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Sources
4 cited
Stable ID
trump-catch-and-kill-national-enquirer
Victims
American voters who cast ballots in the 2016 election while negative information was deliberately suppressed; women whose stories were purchased and silenced; the integrity of democratic elections
Alleged responsible parties
  • Donald Trump, Directed and coordinated the scheme; beneficiary— Trump campaign
  • David Pecker, CEO of American Media Inc.; executed the catch-and-kill scheme— American Media Inc. / National Enquirer
  • Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney; coordinated with Pecker— Trump Organization

Key points

  • AMI's David Pecker agreed to be a 'surrogate' for Trump's campaign — alerting the campaign to negative stories and either killing them through catch-and-kill or publishing negative stories about Trump's opponents
  • AMI paid Karen McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her account of a nine-month affair with Trump, then did not publish it — a payment prosecutors later characterized as an illegal in-kind campaign contribution
  • Pecker also acted as a tip line: when he heard of negative Trump stories, he would alert Cohen so the campaign could respond or suppress them before they became public
  • AMI entered a non-prosecution agreement with the SDNY in December 2018, admitting that the McDougal payment was made 'in coordination with and at the request of' the Trump campaign for the purpose of influencing the 2016 election — admitting a campaign finance felony
  • Pecker's testimony was a key element in both Michael Cohen's conviction and, years later, in Trump's 2024 Manhattan trial — where Pecker testified to the arrangement in detail under oath
  • The catch-and-kill scheme extended beyond Trump: AMI also kept a so-called 'safe' containing documents related to celebrities and public figures, which could serve as leverage

Overview

The National Enquirer is a supermarket tabloid. Under David Pecker, it was also an arm of Donald Trump's political operation.

The "catch and kill" scheme was sophisticated. When someone with a negative story about Trump came forward — an alleged affair, damaging personal information, potentially embarrassing accounts — AMI would purchase the exclusive rights to the story. Purchasing exclusives is normal tabloid journalism. Killing the story after purchasing the exclusive is something different: it converts the money paid from a journalism transaction into a suppression payment.

The Karen McDougal Payment

Karen McDougal was a former Playmate who alleged a nine-month romantic relationship with Trump beginning in 2006 — after Melania had given birth to their son. AMI paid her $150,000 for her story in August 2016, near the height of the presidential campaign.

The story was never published.

Federal prosecutors concluded this was an illegal in-kind campaign contribution: AMI had spent $150,000 to suppress information that could have damaged the campaign, and the payment was coordinated with the campaign. AMI admitted this in its non-prosecution agreement.

The 'Safe'

Among the more concerning elements of the arrangement was the existence of a document collection — informally called the "safe" — containing materials AMI had acquired from or about celebrities and public figures. The nature and extent of the safe's contents, and what if anything was ever done with them, remain partly obscured. Ronan Farrow's reporting for The New Yorker detailed the arrangement and its implications for leverage.

The 2024 Trial

Pecker testified in detail at Trump's 2024 Manhattan trial, describing the surrogate arrangement and the catch-and-kill scheme under oath. His testimony was central to the prosecution's narrative about the broader scheme to influence the 2016 election — of which the hush money payments were the culminating piece.

Update log

  1. Updated with Pecker trial testimony.

Sequence of events

  1. Pecker-Cohen meeting — 'surrogate' agreement

    David Pecker, Cohen, and Trump meet at Trump Tower and agree that Pecker will act as an 'eyes and ears' for the campaign — alerting Cohen to negative stories and suppressing or acquiring them. The agreement is described in detail in AMI's non-prosecution agreement.

  2. AMI pays Karen McDougal $150,000

    AMI pays former Playmate Karen McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her account of a nine-month affair with Trump. The story is never published. The payment is later characterized by federal prosecutors as an illegal campaign contribution.

  3. Cohen pays Stormy Daniels $130,000

    Using the same framework, Cohen — aware of the McDougal approach — pays Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her silence. AMI is aware of the payment.

  4. Cohen pleads guilty — implicates Trump

    Cohen pleads guilty and states the hush money payments were made at Trump's direction for campaign purposes.

  5. AMI enters non-prosecution agreement

    AMI admits in a non-prosecution agreement with SDNY that the McDougal payment was made in coordination with the Trump campaign for the purpose of influencing the 2016 election — admitting a campaign finance felony while avoiding prosecution in exchange for cooperation.

  6. Pecker testifies at Trump trial

    At Trump's Manhattan criminal trial, Pecker testifies in detail about the arrangement with Trump and Cohen, describing the catch-and-kill scheme and his role as a tip line for the campaign. His testimony is a key element in the prosecution's case.

Sources

  1. AMI Admits to Helping Trump, Signs Non-Prosecution Agreement — The New York Times
  2. The National Enquirer, Donald Trump, and a Decades-Long Relationship — The New Yorker
  3. What is the 'catch and kill' scheme and how does it work? — The Washington Post
  4. AMI admits campaign finance violation in non-prosecution deal — The Associated Press

How this record was published

Manually curated This entry was added directly and does not carry an automated audit trail.

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