CNN :
A doorman who was reportedly paid by the National Enquirer to keep quiet about a rumor regarding Donald Trump’s sex life spoke out in a statement Thursday afternoon.
“Today I awoke to learn that a confidential agreement that I had with AMI (The National Enquirer) with regard to a story about President Trump was leaked to the press,” the doorman, Dino Sajudin, said in a statement obtained by CNN. “I can confirm that while working at Trump World Tower I was instructed not to criticize President Trump’s former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President Trump which produced a child.” Sajudin’s suggestion that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock has not been independently confirmed by any of the outlets that have investigated the story. Earlier Thursday, the publisher of the National Enquirer pushed back hard after two different reports indicated that the tabloid had paid Sajudin. American Media Inc., the parent company of the Enquirer, said Thursday it “categorically denies” the allegation at the center of bombshell stories from the
New Yorker and the Associated Press. The two outlets reported that AMI paid $30,000 in late 2015 to Sajudin, a former doorman at a Trump building, to prevent him from publicizing a rumor that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock. Sajudin told the tabloid he had heard Trump fathered a child with a Trump employee in the late 1980s, according to the reports. In a practice called “catch and kill,” the publication bought the exclusive rights to Sajudin’s story and then buried it as a favor to Trump, the reports said.
Ronan Farrow, the author of the New Yorker story, told CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday that the order to stop the reporting came from David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer and Trump’s friend. “This is about the most powerful people in the country having the ability to silence and change the news narrative at will,” Farrow said. “I think the public should know that.” The story also mentioned Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen; Farrow reported that he spoke to two former AMI employees who “said they believed that Cohen was in close contact with AMI executives while the company’s reporters were looking into Sajudin’s story.”
“AMI categorically denies that Donald Trump or Michael Cohen had anything to do with its decision not to pursue a story about a ‘love child’ that it determined was not credible,” AMI said in its statement Thursday. “The suggestion that David Pecker has ever used company funds to ‘shut down’ this or any investigation is not true. In addition, AMI and Mr. Pecker emphatically deny any suggestion that there might have been be any “partnership” created which might influence any business ties in regard to AMI. These claims are reckless, unsubstantiated, and false.” AMI also reportedly paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 in August 2016 for her story about a nine-month affair with Trump. The deal also reportedly included a deal to publish regular columns by McDougal on aging and fitness.
A doorman who was reportedly paid by the National Enquirer to keep quiet about a rumor regarding Donald Trump’s sex life spoke out in a statement Thursday afternoon.
“Today I awoke to learn that a confidential agreement that I had with AMI (The National Enquirer) with regard to a story about President Trump was leaked to the press,” the doorman, Dino Sajudin, said in a statement obtained by CNN. “I can confirm that while working at Trump World Tower I was instructed not to criticize President Trump’s former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President Trump which produced a child.” Sajudin’s suggestion that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock has not been independently confirmed by any of the outlets that have investigated the story. Earlier Thursday, the publisher of the National Enquirer pushed back hard after two different reports indicated that the tabloid had paid Sajudin. American Media Inc., the parent company of the Enquirer, said Thursday it “categorically denies” the allegation at the center of bombshell stories from the
New Yorker and the Associated Press. The two outlets reported that AMI paid $30,000 in late 2015 to Sajudin, a former doorman at a Trump building, to prevent him from publicizing a rumor that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock. Sajudin told the tabloid he had heard Trump fathered a child with a Trump employee in the late 1980s, according to the reports. In a practice called “catch and kill,” the publication bought the exclusive rights to Sajudin’s story and then buried it as a favor to Trump, the reports said.
Ronan Farrow, the author of the New Yorker story, told CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday that the order to stop the reporting came from David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer and Trump’s friend. “This is about the most powerful people in the country having the ability to silence and change the news narrative at will,” Farrow said. “I think the public should know that.” The story also mentioned Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen; Farrow reported that he spoke to two former AMI employees who “said they believed that Cohen was in close contact with AMI executives while the company’s reporters were looking into Sajudin’s story.”
“AMI categorically denies that Donald Trump or Michael Cohen had anything to do with its decision not to pursue a story about a ‘love child’ that it determined was not credible,” AMI said in its statement Thursday. “The suggestion that David Pecker has ever used company funds to ‘shut down’ this or any investigation is not true. In addition, AMI and Mr. Pecker emphatically deny any suggestion that there might have been be any “partnership” created which might influence any business ties in regard to AMI. These claims are reckless, unsubstantiated, and false.” AMI also reportedly paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 in August 2016 for her story about a nine-month affair with Trump. The deal also reportedly included a deal to publish regular columns by McDougal on aging and fitness.
