The New York Times reports:
As accounts of past sexual indiscretions threatened to surface during Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign, the job of stifling potentially damaging stories fell to his longtime lawyer and all-around fixer, Michael D. Cohen.
To protect his boss at critical junctures in his improbable political rise, the lawyer relied on intimidation tactics, hush money and the nation’s leading tabloid news business, American Media Inc., whose top executives include close Trump allies. Mr. Cohen’s role has come under scrutiny amid recent revelations that he facilitated a payment to silence a porn star, but his aggressive behind-the-scenes efforts stretch back years, according to interviews, emails and other records.
They intensified as Mr. Trump’s campaign began in the summer of 2015, when a former hedge-fund manager told Mr. Cohen that he had obtained photographs of Mr. Trump with a bare-breasted woman. The man said Mr. Cohen first blew up at him, then steered him to David J. Pecker, chairman of the tabloid company, which sometimes bought, then buried, embarrassing material about his high-profile friends and allies.
Hit the link for the rest, which recounts Cohen’s empty promises made in an attempt to quash the photo. As it turns out, the photo was published anyway in 2016 by the website Filthy.
Thank you @nytimes for front page profile and using good pictures of me. I will always proudly and fiercely defend my boss, friend and our @POTUS @realDonaldTrump against those who raise false accusations against him and the family. #PresidentsDay2018 https://t.co/plZ7Hg3zJF
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) February 19, 2018