Former AMI editor describes 'favor bank' of killed Trump stories

Source: CNN




by Athena Jones @CNNMoney
April 13, 2018: 10:24 AM ET

Jerry George, a former senior editor at American Media Inc, says the reported payoff to a former Trump building doorman shows how complicit AMI chief David Pecker is in buying stories to protect President Trump's reputation, racking up what George called a "favor bank" of killed stories.

Media outlets, including The New Yorker, have reported that AMI paid Dino Sajudin, a former doorman at Trump World Tower in Manhattan, $30,000 in late 2015 for his account of an unproven rumor that Trump had an affair with an employee in the late 1980s and fathered a daughter with her.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization said Sajudin's claims were false, and disputed that Matthew Calamari -- who The New Yorker reported is Trump's head of security -- told Sajudin about a "love child."

"Not only did Mr. Calamari never make these statements, but a simple internet search shows that Mr. Sajudin is alleged to have a long history of peddling false and malicious stories for his own benefit," the spokesperson said. "Given these accusations, it is disappointing - though not surprising - that The New Yorker would give any credence to this story."

While George does not have direct knowledge that Pecker was involved with the decision to pay Sajudin, he spoke about a long-running practice of the AMI chief killing unflattering stories about Trump.

Asked to estimate how many Trump stories Pecker killed, George said "dozens of stories and hundreds of story leads that come in on the tip line that never see the light of day."

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/13/media/ami-jerry-george-david-pecker-donald-trump/index.html