Turns out there's more than you thought to that salacious tabloid you poke through while waiting to pay for the week's vittles.
Just before he turned in last night, WSB Radio's Jamie Dupree sent out a note that included this:
Normally, we would just make jokes about the National Enquirer, right? But with this week's guilty plea by President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, and reports that the top official at the company that publishes the magazine, David Pecker, was granted immunity, there is the chance we are going to find out a lot more about how the Enquirer helped Mr. Trump's campaign.
Think about some of the stories: The father of Ted Cruz and the JFK assassination, charges that Cruz had mistresses, a bevy of stories about Hillary Clinton. And now we know that the Enquirer helped snuff out a story about a woman who had an affair with the president.
This morning, the Associated Press features this:
The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election…
The Trump records were stored alongside similar documents pertaining to other celebrities' catch-and-kill deals, in which exclusive rights to people's stories were bought with no intention of publishing to keep them out of the news. By keeping celebrities' embarrassing secrets, the company was able to ingratiate itself with them and ask for favors in return…
But after The Wall Street Journal initially published the first details of Playboy model Karen McDougal's catch-and-kill deal shortly before the 2016 election, those assets became a liability. Fearful that the documents might be used against American Media, Pecker and the company's chief content officer, Dylan Howard, removed them from the safe in the weeks before Trump's inauguration, according to one person directly familiar with the events.
It was unclear whether the documents were destroyed or simply were moved to a location known to fewer people.
***
Brian Kemp, the Republican candidate for governor, launched the first TV ad of the general election campaign. He channels Ronald Reagan more so than Donald Trump -- who isn't mentioned. Also gone are the pick-up truck, the shotgun and Jake. Watch it here:
From the script:
“I believe our future is about growing jobs - not government. Investing in early, locally controlled education - not one size fits all.
"I believe in helping our most vulnerable but requiring work from those who can. And as always, rewarding legal -- not illegal -- behavior.”
***
A day after Gov. Nathan Deal tapped Sarah Warren to an open spot on the Georgia Supreme Court bench, he took the unusual step of calling for more nominees for the second vacancy.
The Judicial Nominating Commission will meet again after vetting dozens of candidates for the opening and coming up with eight finalists. The commission’s chair, Pete Robinson, did not say why the governor is searching for additional applicants.
Rumors are flying and few are talking. But keep an eye on Court of Appeals Judge Charlie Bethel, a former Republican state senator and close ally of the governor who served in a range of leadership roles in the chamber.
***
There have been plenty of stories about the favorable political climate for Democrats this fall. But in at least one congressional district in Georgia, the winds may be shifting in the other direction.
The handicappers at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics on Thursday adjusted 10 race forecasts in favor of the Democrats, but the Sixth District in Georgia was one of two that Larry Sabato's team moved rightward, from "leans Republican" to "likely Republican." UVA's Kyle Kondik explained it to us this way:
"The more I thought about it, the more I thought that Handel already got the harder race out of the way in the special. She's should have a resource advantage and I think the national Democratic focus is elsewhere – they have a long list of targets – and I just don't think they necessarily look at the suburban Atlanta seats as must-wins (and I don't really think they are, either).
Is an upset possible in GA-6 or GA-7? Absolutely – the Republican brand right now is not as strong as it used to be affluent, suburban seats all across the country. But I think if either flip, it'll be because the Democrats are winning the House in a big way, not because one of these seats will decide the majority."
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Don't tell any of that to Lucy McBath, Handel's Democratic opponent. The gun control advocate and former flight attendant was one of nine Democrats yesterday to win the endorsement of the Daily Kos. That's the same liberal advocacy group that helped make Jon Ossoff a national name last year. The group ultimately helped him raise more than $1.6 million nationally, mostly in small-dollar donations.
***
At the tail end of a Twitter tirade against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions this morning, President Donald Trump made note of Thursday's sentencing of Reality Winner in Augusta.
Winner was sentenced to five years and three months behind bars for leaking a top-secret government report about Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Tweeted Trump:
Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over "classified" information. Gee, this is "small potatoes" compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.
Prosecutors called Winner’s incarceration “the longest sentence served by a federal defendant for an unauthorized disclosure to the media.”
***
In an op-ed piece in today's New York Times, former President Jimmy Carter writes that the West should drop its insistence on regime change in Syria in order to stop the carnage. A taste:
Western countries, including the United States, should re-engage incrementally with the Syrian government. They can start by reopening their embassies in Syria, since Western diplomats' absence from Damascus has led to missed opportunities. The West should also abandon the goal of regime change and temper expectations of democratic transition in Syria in the short-to-medium term. Instead, the focus should be on patiently building democracy.
In exchange for this re-engagement, Damascus should be required to enact reforms, though the West must keep its demands moderate. Additionally, the West should be prepared to contribute to the reconstruction of Syria, perhaps selectively by sector. Humanitarian assistance alone will remain a bottomless pit as long as enterprising Syrians are unable to revive the country's economy and create jobs, particularly for young people.
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Big food industry lobbyists and Sonny Perdue's U.S. Department of Agriculture have developed a cozy relationship, according to CNN. The network reports that internal emails a "hand-in-glove" relationship between agency staffers and industry groups -- with lobbyists weighing on on talking points for one of Perdue's speeches, the membership of a scientific advisory council, and a trip to Pennsylvania.
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A defense spending bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday includes language that requires federal agencies to review compliance to lead exposure laws at military housing. The provision, authored by Georgia's Johnny Isakson, came shortly after Reuters published an investigation about lead poisoning in privatized housing at Ft. Benning and other bases across the country. The final bill also included language requiring kids living on bases to regularly undergo blood testing for lead poisoning.
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