David Pecker, President and CEO of American Media Speaks in New York City, January 31, 2014.
Marion Curtis | Reuters
David Pecker has resigned as CEO of the National Enquirer’s parent, ending a government that saw the company collapse in a campaign finance scandal that sent President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer to jail.
Pecker’s company, American Media Inc., is acquired by Accelerate360, a logistics company based in Smyrna, Georgia, whose recent efforts include the delivery of millions of face masks and hand sanitizer units.
Accelerate did not disclose the terms of the deal in its announcement Friday. But it said the combined entity would be led by Accelerate CEO David Parry.
Chris Scardino, an 18-year veteran of American Media, has been named president of A360 Media, the New York-based unit that will house previous American Media titles, including Us Weekly, Life & Style and OK embrace! Pecker will serve as an “executive advisor” for the company’s A360 Media division, Accelerate said.
Under Pecker, the National Enquirer buried for years potentially embarrassing stories about Trump and other favorite celebrities by buying the rights to them and never publishing them. The practice was known as “catch-and-kill.”
The Associated Press reported Pecker kept a security in the Enquirer’s office that kept documents about buried stories, including those involving Trump.
American Media admitted that it had paid $ 150,000 to keep former Playboy model Karen McDougal quiet about an alleged affair with Trump to help his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied an affair.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan in 2018 did not agree to prosecute American Media in exchange for their cooperation in an investigation into campaign funding. That probe eventually led to a three-year jail term for Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Cohen is completing the final two years of a three-year prison sentence at home after pleading guilty to campaign campaign costs and lying to Congress.
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