In May 2021, American Media Inc reached a conciliation agreement with the Federal Election Commission, which was discussed during a recent questioning session. Despite not being the CEO at the time, Pecker, who still held equity in the company, was involved in reviewing the agreement.
During the questioning, Pecker mentioned that he was consulting for AMI and provided insights on topics related to celebrity magazines and the magazine industry.
Pecker clarified a previous statement where he had acknowledged a campaign violation in the conciliation agreement. When asked to confirm this, Pecker disagreed, stating that there was no admission of the commission's legal conclusions in the agreement.
Further into the cross-examination, it was highlighted that Pecker had not admitted to any campaign finance violation. Despite being accused of such a violation, Pecker maintained that he did not admit to it.
It was pointed out that Pecker was not part of the AMI conciliation agreement with the FEC as he had already left the company. Additionally, Pecker had provided a signed declaration stating that he had sought legal advice regarding a specific agreement.
During the proceedings, it was revealed that Pecker's lawyers had used this sworn declaration to argue to the FEC that there was no violation. Pecker confirmed this, indicating that his legal team had relied on the declaration to support their case.
