National Enquirer

====Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations====
{{further|Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations}}
The ''National Enquirer'' received, and refused to publish a story from [[Karen McDougal]] about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006 and, in 2016 as his presidential campaign advanced, paid McDougal $150,000 for, among other items, "exclusive life rights to any relationship she has had with a then-married man." ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' said that the tabloid had paid McDougal [[hush money]] and was using the purchase and refusal to publish the story to protect Trump (a technique known as [[catch and kill]]), an allegation the publication denied.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enquirer-shielded-donald-trump-from-playboy-models-affair-allegation-1478309380?mod=e2tw|title=National Enquirer Shielded Donald Trump From Playboy Model's Affair Allegation|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=November 4, 2016|access-date=November 5, 2016}}</ref> In February 2018, after a similar situation involving [[Stormy Daniels]] (not involving the ''National Enquirer'') was confirmed, McDougal confirmed her story to [[Ronan Farrow]] for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', stating that the ''National Enquirer'' had loosened the terms of the contract after Trump was elected but that she was unsure of how much she could discuss under the terms of the agreement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-karen-mcdougal-affair-national-enquirer/|title=National Enquirer Paid to Kill Story of Playboy Model's Affair with Donald Trump: Report|date=November 5, 2016}}</ref> The publication had also paid $30,000 to an employee at one of Trump's hotels who claimed that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock during the 1980s; the payment came in November 2015, before the paper publicly endorsed Trump, and according to reports in ''The New Yorker'', the title's staff was investigating the story and preparing to publish the employee's claims before ''National Enquirer'' owner [[David Pecker]] personally quashed it.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-national-enquirer-a-donald-trump-rumor-and-another-secret-payment-to-buy-silence-dino-sajudin-david-pecker|title=The ''National Enquirer'', a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence|first=Ronan|last=Farrow|magazine=The New Yorker|date=April 12, 2018|access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref>

In late 2015, the parent company of the ''National Enquirer'', [[American Media, Inc.]], paid $30,000 to Dino Sajudin, a doorman at [[Trump Tower]], to obtain the rights to his story in which he alleged Donald Trump had an affair in the 1980s that resulted in the birth of a child. Sajudin in April 2018 identified the woman as Trump's former housekeeper.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/12/media/trump-national-enquirer-doorman/index.html|title=Former doorman involved in story of alleged Trump affair speaks|first=Chris Isidore, Tom Kludt and Sonia|last=Moghe|work=CNN|date=April 12, 2018|access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref> AMI reporters were given the names of the woman and the alleged child, while Sajudin passed a lie detector test when testifying that he had heard the story from others. Shortly after the payment was made, Pecker ordered the reporters to drop the story.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-national-enquirer-a-donald-trump-rumor-and-another-secret-payment-to-buy-silence-dino-sajudin-david-pecker|title=The ''National Enquirer'', a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence|last=Farrow|first=Ronan|author-link=Ronan Farrow|date=April 12, 2018|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=April 12, 2018|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}</ref> In April 2018, AMI chief content officer [[Dylan Howard]] denied the story was "spiked" in a so-called "catch and kill" operation, insisting that AMI did not run the story because Sajudin's story lacked credibility.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apnews.com/f37ecfc4710b468db6a103a245146172|title=$30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip|website=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref> CNN obtained a copy of the contract between AMI and Sajudin on August 24, 2018, after AMI had released Sajudin from the contract. CNN published excerpts of the contract, which instructed Sajudin to provide "information regarding Donald Trump's illegitimate child", but did not contain further specifics of Sajudin's story.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/politics/trump-tower-doorman-contract-ami/index.html|title=Ex-Trump World Tower doorman releases 'catch-and-kill' contract about alleged Trump affair|first=Sonia|last=Moghe|work=CNN|access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref>