American Media to turn over Trump documents
THE National Enquirer parent American Media and its CEO
David Pecker and Chief Content Officer Dylan Howard plan to turn over the information requested by the House Judiciary Committee in its probe into the dealings of President Trump.
“American Media will comply with the request,” said an AM spokesperson.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), head of the committee, said Monday that “tens of thousands of documents” were received so far, but that some of the 81 parties were waiting until they were officially subpoenaed to turn over documents.
American Media, which is already operating under a non-prose- cution deal with the feds in the Southern District of New York, is complying voluntarily with the request, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, AM is in the midst of a fresh controversy over its role in paying $200,000 to Michael San
chez for the sext messages between his sister, Lauren Sanchez, and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
It now turns out that the contract to Michael Sanchez was at the core of a blowup between ex-American Media attorney Cameron
Stratcher and Pecker in a profanity-laced tirade at the downtown restaurant Cipriani Wall Street.
The blowup was first disclosed by Media Ink on Nov. 13. Restaurant sources at the time said the row was over “sources” and “payments.”
The Wall Street Journal disclosed in a front page story Tuesday that the subject that drew Pecker’s ire was the $200,000 contract that Stratcher had worked out to pay Michael Sanchez for the explosive texts between the two lovers.
Pecker was infuriated that a clause had been inserted into the contract that said Michael Sanchez could be paid in advance of publication and could keep the $200,000 regardless of whether the Enquirer published the story, WSJ reported. And if it failed to publish, the contract said, he was free to peddle the story elsewhere.
Faced with the imminent publication of the Enquirer story in January, Bezos and MacKenzie, his wife of 25 years, issued a joint statement on Jan. 9 saying they had decided to divorce.
The Enquirer, meanwhile, rushed its story online on Jan. 11 and accelerated the publication of its print version, pulling the print edition that was already on newsstands that week in favor of the new edition with the explosive, 11-page story containing the steamy texts between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez. The issue, due in part to only a half a week on sale, sold poorly, sources said.
Pecker was said to be infuriated by the wording in the contract with Michael Sanchez, which was inserted due to “catch and kill” practices that AM had engaged in in the past. Cameron had been the AM lawyer who arranged a $150,000 payment to former Playboy model
Karen McDougal in 2016 for exclusive rights in perpetuity for her story about an alleged affair she claimed to have had with Trump.
The Enquirer never published her story. The company later admitted it had paid the hush money to McDougal in violation of campaign finance laws to help quash the story in advance of the 2016 election. Pecker and AM subsequently agreed to cooperate with the Southern District of New York in its probe.
An AM spokesperson declined to comment on the new allegations regarding the payment to Michael Sanchez.
Stratcher also declined to comment.
Bill’s book
Former Fox News talk show host Bill O’Reilly said his next book will have the title “The United States of Trump: How the President Really Sees America” and is expected to hit bookstores in September from longtime publisher Henry Holt.
O’Reilly is predicting No. 1 status for his book.
“My ‘Killing’ series has 17 million copies in print,” he said. “I don’t think any other nonfiction can claim 15 consecutive No. 1 best-sellers.”
O’Reilly said he has known Trump for 30 years and interviewed him as recently as January, flying with him aboard Air Force One.
Regarding allegations by women who have had claims of sexual flings with Trump or been subject to sexually harassing behavior over the years, O’Reilly said, “I’m not handling it at all. I’m not writing about allegations.”
But he insisted his book will be history, and said all interviews will be on the record.
“I could care less about the proTrump media and the anti-Trump media. There will be no anonymous sources. I am using facts to drive the narrative.”
O’Reilly resigned from Fox in April 2017 after allegations of sexual harassment by a number of women surfaced — claims he has denied. Since departing Fox, O’Reilly has been doing his own podcasts, “No Spin News.” The book “Killing the SS,” which came out after he left Fox, was also a No. 1 best-seller for six weeks.
For the latest book, he said he has been writing 1,000 to 2,000 words a day to meet a May deadline to finish the manuscript.