An editor at Fox News killed a report prior to the 2016 election revealing that President Trump engaged in an affair with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels years ago, The New Yorker reported on Monday.
According to the magazine, former FoxNews.com reporter Diana Falzone “had obtained proof” of the affair and confirmed it with several key sources, including Daniels and her ex-husband.
Falzone had also reportedly obtained emails between Daniels’s attorney and Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, that showed that Cohen had proposed to pay cash to Daniels in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement.
But the report was never published, according to The New Yorker, with former Fox News executive Ken LaCorte ultimately telling her to “let it go.”
“Good reporting, kiddo. But Rupert [Murdoch] wants Donald Trump to win. So just let it go,” LaCorte reportedly said.
According to the magazine, LaCorte denied making that comment to Falzone, but one of Falzone’s colleagues confirmed having heard the account.
Fox News did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
Falzone later sued Fox and reached a settlement that includes a nondisclosure agreement, which prevents her from speaking about the Daniels story, The New Yorker added.
The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2018 — one year after Trump became president — that Cohen had arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels just weeks before the 2016 presidential election in an effort to keep her quiet about the alleged affair with Trump.
