New York, December 14 (RHC)-- The publisher of the tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer has admitted it bought the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story and then suppressed it to “prevent it from influencing the election.” 

The National Enquirer is run by a longtime friend of Trump’s, David Pecker, who is now cooperating with prosecutors.  He admitted meeting with Cohen and another—unnamed—member of Trump’s campaign in August 2015. 

Election law experts say the admission could put Trump and his organization in legal jeopardy.  Richard L. Hasen, an election law professor at the University of California, Irvine, told The New York Times: “It’s looking a lot like an illegal and unreported in-kind corporate contribution to help the campaign, exposing the Trump campaign and Trump himself to possible criminal liability.”