AMI the parent company of the National Enquirer, is run by David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend. The company purchased the rights to McDougal and Daniels' stories and then refused to publish them, an industry practice known as "catch and kill."



AMI is cooperating with federal prosecutors and says it made the payments to directly influence the 2016 election.



Trump suggested at the time, without evidence, that the tape may have been doctored, tweeting: "What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!"