National Enquirer publisher seeks to dismiss lawsuit brought by ex-Playboy model who claims affair..

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



National Enquirer publisher seeks to dismiss lawsuit brought by ex-Playboy model who claims affair with Trump

By Beth Reinhard and Emma Brown April 2 at 4:17 PM

The publisher of the National Enquirer asked a California court Monday to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former Playboy centerfold who claims she had an affair with Donald Trump, arguing that the deal it struck with Karen McDougal is protected under the First Amendment.

The 199-page response by American Media Inc. comes less than two weeks after McDougal sued in Los Angeles Superior Court to get out of the deal in which she sold the rights to her story for $150,000. McDougal argued that the National Enquirer violated campaign finance law when it bought her story not to publish it but to bury it, sparing Trump from an embarrassing revelation in the run-up to the 2016 election.

McDougal alleges that AMI colluded with the Trump campaign to hide the story of her affair, citing as evidence company chief executive David Pecker’s friendship with Trump.

In its response, AMI said McDougal was attempting to run roughshod over freedom of the press, suing over an ordinary editorial decision. Media organizations “have a First Amendment right not to publish, and cannot be punished for exercising that right,” the company said in its court filing.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/national-enquirer-publisher-seeks-to-dismiss-lawsuit-brought-by-ex-playmate-who-claims-affair-with-trump/2018/04/02/426e4fd0-3691-11e8-9c0a-85d477d9a226_story.html

[Achilleaze]

1. republican sleaze is spread every which way

What will the children think?

[Initech]

6. Children raised by deplorables will grow up to be deplorables.

I know quite a few people who have kids equally as deplorable as they are, and this is California we're talking about here.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. If it is secret (i.e. they bought it to bury) then it is an illegal campaign contribution.

But they don't care. Even a million dollar fine would be "cost of doing business" as far as they are concerned.

[efhmc]

3. That nasty, horrible rag is at the checkout stand of my local supermarket.

It is the only store here so I get vomitous every time I check out.

[louis-t]

4. Ask them to show how many stories they have bought

for $150,000, then buried. That would show "editorial decision-making". I bet there are no others.

[Mr. Ected]

5. Isn't that special: a right-wing rag run by Russians wants to cloak itself in the 1st Amendment

You don't have a 1st Amendment in Russia, do you Pecker?

[dansolo]

7. They do have the right to bury the story

But they don't have the right to prevent her from giving the story to someone else.