NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. attorney’s office in New York says it won’t prosecute the National Enquirer’s parent company over its efforts to suppress an embarrassing story about Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The agreement was announced Wednesday shortly after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison.
Cohen’s crimes included working with American Media Inc. to buy the silence of a model who says she had an affair with Trump. The president denies the affair.
Like Cohen, the tabloid publisher admitted it was trying to influence the election by protecting Trump from a damaging story.
As part of the deal, AMI acknowledged it made a $150,000 payment to the model “in concert” with the Trump campaign with the intent of influencing the election.
It requires AMI to cooperate with federal prosecutors in any investigation.