i would have to do an optimistic story. and then what. thanks, my. friend as always. thanks to you at home for being here this evening. it was four days before the 2016 election, when the wall street journal published this report national enquirer shielded donald trump from playboy model s affair allegation. the journal was the first to report that the national enquirer paid a woman named karen mcdougal $150,000 in august of 2016, and what is known as a catch and kill. basically, the enquirer bought macdougalls story, about a romantic relationship with donald trump in 2006, and then the acquirer killed it. it never went to press. in any other news cycle, this story would ve been a bombshell. in the last week, of a wild campaign, the mcdougal story got very little attention. first of all, the country was still reeling from the release of trump s access hollywood tape, which had happened a month earlier. just days before, fbi director james comey had announced the fbi was
all a very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late, i ll see you at the end of tomorrow. of tomorrow it was four days before the 2016 election when the wall street journal published this report national enquirer shielded donald trump from playboy model s affair allegation. the journal was the first to report that the national enquirer paid a woman named karen mcdougal $150,000 in august of 2016, and what is known as a catch and kill. basically, the enquirer bought macdougalls story, about a romantic relationship with donald trump in 2006, and then the acquirer killed it. it never went to press. in any other news cycle, this story would ve been a bombshell. in the last week, of a wild campaign, the mcdougal story got very little attention. first of all, the country was still reeling from the release of trump s access hollywood tape, which had happened a month earlier. just days before, fbi director james comey had anno
phone records of his closest allies. and then you email evidence joint insiders knew exactly what they were doing. then, as republicans split over the former guy and his former vp, could democrats be in for some big wins despite a complicated economy. as the 11th hour gets underway on this tuesday night. here we go. good evening once again, i am stephanie ruhle. we begin this evening with bombshell breaking news from the washington post. the post reporting the justice department is investigating former president trump s actions in its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election. the paper reports, quote, prosecutors who were questioning witnesses before a grand jury, including two top aides to vice president mike pence, have asked in recent days about conversations with trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute trump allies for certified electors for some states to that joe biden won. in addition, justice department investigators
guilty in a deal that ends a ill year legal battle. he s now back in australia. cheering and applause he was pursued by us prosecutors for leaking vast amounts of classified government and military documents, including those related to the afghanistan and iraq wars. in a press conference after his release, his lawyer called the prosecution the criminalisation of journalism . so, did he pioneer a new form ofjournalism by setting up wikileaks, and has his case, by pleading guilty, set a dangerous precedent for reporters? i started by talking to carrie decell, who is a senior staff attorney at the knight first amendment institute at columbia university. i think this plea deal is significant in two respects. i mean, in the first instance, it must be an enormous relief, of course, forjulian assange and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would e