America. The readers are incredibly loyal to it. People have more of a fascination with this kind of stuff. Detractors say the tabloid is ground zero for fake news. They sent me the 30,000 over the wire. This was a magazine that frankly, in many respects, should be very respected. Donald trumps run for the white house inspired a whole new series of covers. Donald trump weaponized the National Enquirer in a way that hadnt been done. Its a perfect marriage. It is a marriage made in tabloid heaven. I think the game plan was for the National Enquirer to serve as an unofficial propaganda outlet for President Trump. But the enquirer made headlines of its own when it went after jeff bezos. This is extortion. It is crime. National enquirer is in the shame business. When we look back at the history of the National Enquirer, we will look at this moment as the point at which the National Enquirer began to have a profound influence on american politics. The prose is purple and it is sizzling by design. They have broken some serious stories that have affected people in the public eye. The tabloids seem to have a blind spot when it came to donald trump. Running for president , the National Enquirer became very pertinent to endorse candidate trump as it never endorsed a candidate before. It went after his critics, both his critics in the republican primary like ted cruz and Hillary Clinton. Trumps core supporters also happened to be readers of the National Enquirer. It is a heart land leadership. Its older leadership. Its a largely white leadership. Look at all the fake news back there. I think people identify with trump, he sort of reinforced the notion that maybe the enquirer could be the voice for them. Leading the effort, david pecker, ceo of American Media inc. Or ami. The trump era brought this very weird cast of characters into power in america. I think david pecker is one of these characters. During the 2016 campaign, pecker appealed to Trump Supporters by highlighting positive stories about their candidate on the enquirers pages and making sure they didnt see any negative words. He is getting the stories that would make donald trump look bad, and he is essentially and quite literally putting those stories in a vault. Including one from a woman who alleged she had an affair with the future president. Karen mcdougal, former playboy model had a relationship with trump allegedly. Had a story about an extramarital affair come out, it would have been damaging to the Trump Campaign. Although the white house denied the affair, ami would admit to paying mcdougal 150,000. In tabloid journalism, the practice has a name, catch and kill. Catch and kill in journalism is the concept that you would buy a story from someone and then own its rights so that you could choose to publish it or in the case of the National Enquirer, you would choose to not publish it. The president s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, told house investigators he worked directly with ami to protect his bosss reputation. Did you practice this for the president . I was involved in several of these catch and kill episodes. Federal investigators looked into the payments to kill stories constituted Campaign Finance violations. They should have been disclosed under our Campaign Finance laws, and they werent. In order to avoid prosecution, ami agreed to tell federal prosecutors everything the enquirer had done to help get trump elected. It also pledged not to commit any times during the deal. But four months later, the tabloid was back in the headlines. Jeff bezos says the National Enquirer and its owner are trying to blackmail him. All they had to do was keep their noises clean, and they got off with a slap on the hands. Now theyre back in the thick of it. It began with a january 2019 headline on the enquirers front page. According to the story, jeff bezos was having an affair with lauren sanchez. That story contained texts and photographs that someone inside bezos private world got their hands on. Unlike most people, bezos had substantial resources, so he hired his own invest guy tors and decided to get to the bottom of the artle, who got the text and the photos to the National Enquirer. In a candid blog post written a month after the expose, bezos went directly after pecker. And basically accuses david pecker and the National Enquirer of trying to blackmail him and extort him. Bezos said he was warned the enquirer had more embarrassing material, including nude photos, but would only release them if specific demands were met. They said were going to publish these unless you come out and make this statement that our story about you was not politically motivated and you stop looking into how we got these photos. Inquiring minds wanted to know was this tabloid business as usual, or was there Something Else going on . The president s animosity towards jeff bezos is well known. He frequently tweeted accusations that bezos used his power and influence for political gain. The Washington Post has broken significant stories about trumps relationship with russia, the workings of the Trump Administration and the white house, all of which trump would rather not see the light of day. Adding to the injury, bezoss Washington Post employed jamal khassogi. I think the fact that the Washington Post aggressively pursued that story also didnt sit well with the saudis. So you have two powerful entities here who dont care for what jeff bezos is doing. The potential saudi link also extended to david pecker. In 2018 ami published 200,000 copies of this glossy magazine, glorified the Saudi Crown Prince and stocked at chain stores all across the u. S. It wracked at walmart. Come here for your vacation, walmart shoppers. So lets chart it out. President of the United States cant stand the Washington Post and its leader jeff bezos. Saudi arabia cant stand the Washington Post and its leader, jeff bezos. Who are they both connected to . Right in the middle of it, david pecker, American Media inc. Now we have America Media inc trying to scandalize jeff bezos. Could have serious ramifications for the tabloid. If federal prosecutors see this as a crime, that initial cooperation would get blown up and it exposes both pecker and ami to even possibly greater legal consequences. This is extortion. This is a crime. I think it very likely could be. Coming up. I know where to go. Thats why he sold the story. It had nothing to do with politics at all. The National Enquirer made its name by breaking the rules. We did a lot of unconventional things that nobody was doing. My father told people, do whatever you have to do. ] exactly, nothing. 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And try zyrtecd for proven relief of your allergies, sinus pressure, and congestion. In one corner, you have got jeff bezos, the founder of amazon. In the other corner, you have got david pecker, the head of American Media and the National Inquire enquirer and a close friend of President Trump. President trumps longtime friend, david pecker, has been accused of targeting the worlds richest man. You could not write a better script. The problem is we dont know if the script is yet fact or fiction. Trump and pecker first met in the 1990s. Pecker is a brash magazine executive who wants to challenge the status quo, sees himself as an outsider. Donald trump same thing, brash Real Estate Developer challenging the status quo, sees himself as on outsider. Two native new yorkers, trump born in queens. Pecker from the bronx. The big apple was plush with cash in the 90s driven by the stock market and a surging national economy. Former Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications has worked in the Entertainment Industry for three decades. Hes a very bigtime in the city, a lot of clubs that people hung out certainly within the Publishing Industry because publishers were celebrities in new york in those days. David peckers rise to the top of new yorks publishing scene had humble roots. The son of a bricklayer, he worked as a brook keookkeeper w father died when he was just 16. He focussed on the bottom line instead of the by line. Hes not a news man. He doesnt have ink in his veins. Peckers knack earned him this position. The Company Behind car and driver, premier and elle. One of the most popular magazines that he launched when he was running the ship was called george. George was an idea of jfk jr. Who was looking for a publishing partner and somehow or another got connected to pecker. George magazine was launched in 1995. Shortly thereafter, pecker met donald j. Trump, whose exploits were well covered by new york tabloids. They said about both of them that they want acceptance from the establishment that theyre also thumbing their noises at, so they become friends. They triek a business arrangement. Their First Venture together, trump style, a glossy magazine launched in 1997 promoting Trump Properties and the donalds signature style. That was a magazine that was to be distributed only at Trump Properties and trump resorts. You have got david pecker who sees donald trump as sort of aspirational figure. He likes the trump lifestyle. He likes the guilded office and the opulent wealth. You know, women on both arms. Pecker clearly had access to what trump craved. As the relationship grew, they found value in each other. You know, you scratch my back. Ill scratch your back. I was fascinated by their concept for george. After overseeing magazines like george, elle and premier, in 1999 david pecker became chairman and ceo of American Media inc. The tabloids have the greatest Distribution Network for magazines. Pecker now controlled the biggest tabloids in the country. Star magazine, the globe and the crown jewel of american tabs, the National Enquirer. When david pecker came to the enquirer, he brought donald trump in as pretty much a silent editor. Jerry george worked at the National Enquirer for 28 years starting as a reporter in 1985. Donald trump had been a regular feature in the enquirer. He lived an outrageous life, and he was well thinkier than god. We would do stories all the time on him and he would often cooperate. He would come to the phone and give you an interview. If he didnt like the story, hed call and complain, but hed say, you know, next time give me a call and we can Work Together out. After decker took over, there was a drastic shift in the way the enquirer covered trump. We were no longer going to write negative stories on donald trump. So udenly there were no stories on affairs or trouble in the marriages. Everything had a glow to it. It was Common Knowledge at the enquirer that being on daild peckers good side could benefit a celebritys career. Sylvester stallone was another example of a friend of pecker. There were people who were known as being fops inside the National Enquirer. And those were people who you would not read negative stories about in the National Enquirer. Trump, who was constantly planting positive stories about himself in the tabloids, pecker can do that for him. And what can trump give pecker . Entry into his world. Can basically invite him into this world that pecker became very captivated by. It was a perfect marriage. Pecker tightened his grip on the tabloid market in the late 90s, earning the nickname the bad boy of magazines. I am a very focussed person, and i have over the years have learned to respect the editorial and respect our reader. In 2004, donald trump took on a role that catapulted him on to an even bigger stage. Im looking for the apprentice. A big hit for nbc. After a series of well publicized business failures, it portrayed donald trump as a successful no nonsense businessman. Youre fired. It was taught when the apprentice was at the top of the ratings created a different version where the competition would be editor of star magazine. Although that show never materialized, according to ami employees, trump and pecker seemed to grow closer, increasing trumps influence over the tabloids. Donald trump is extremely manipulative in a good way. Hes extremely charismatic and he can make you feel like you are the center of the world. Coming up, will it push to the enquirer to ruin . My father would be turning over in the grave to see what his paper, what his creation, what his baby is being used for. Discover. Hi, whats this Social Security alert . 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In the years before david pecker took control, the National Enquirer mostly stayed out of partisan politics. Anyone rich and famous could be fair game. The tone of the coverage is not political. Its just about do we have a really good, just juicy story . Do we have something that readers will say, wow, i got to read that. The stock and trade and formula for success was the exclusive and explosive celebrity scoop. The most important thing to my father was his baby, which was the editorial news room. Paul david popes father, gene, founded the enquirer in 1952. We did a lot of unconventi unconventional things that nobody was doing. Peoples garbage, following people. My father told people, do whatever you have to do to get the story. Gene pope encouraged people to bend, if not break, traditional rules of journalism. This socalled last picture of Elvis Presley racked up 6. 7 million copies sold in 1977. Elvis in the coffin. You know, that was a pretty big get. And the reason they got that story and they have that kind of reputation is that the enquirer throughout its history has paid for sources. Sometimes those sources are the celebritys pr, a body guard, an assistant, someone that knew them. My father had his fingers on the pulse. So he knew the picture of elvis in the coffin was going to be the thing. The way he achieved that was by sneaking a relative in with a tiny camera at the t