Michael Cohen’s Testimony: Cohen Says He Practised ‘Catch And Kill’ For Trump
Michael Cohen said he was involved in “several … catch-and-kill episodes”, but “these catch-and kill scenarios existed between David Pecker and Mr Trump long before [Cohen] started working for him in 2007”.
Cohen is giving his testimony today before the House Committee on Oversight.
Catch-and-kill involves buying publication rights of stories so that they aren’t released. Pecker is the CEO of National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc.
In December 2018, federal prosecutors in New York said American Media Inc, as part of a deal to cooperate with prosecutors and avoid charges, admitted it made a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy magazine model, “in concert” with Trump’s presidential campaign.
Pecker met with Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and at least one other member of the campaign in August 2015 and offered to help with negative stories about Trump’s relationships with women by buying the rights to those stories, according to a document made public by prosecutors.
