New York Times: A tabloid publisher will pay a $187,500 F.E.C. penalty for its Trump hush-money payment.

The tabloid publishing company that paid $150,000 to a former Playboy model in 2016 to suppress her account of an alleged affair with Donald J. Trump, then a presidential candidate, has agreed to pay $187,500 to the Federal Election Commission to settle accusations that the company violated campaign finance law in making the payment.

The commission found that the firm, American Media Inc., and its former chief executive, David J. Pecker, had “knowingly and willfully” violated campaign laws by secretly routing the $150,000 payment to the former model, Karen McDougal, in coordination with senior officials with the Trump campaign, including Michael D. Cohen, who served as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer at the time. …

Mr. Trump himself faces no further investigation in relation to the payment to Ms. McDougal, however. Documents released on Tuesday by Common Cause, the government watchdog group which filed the initial complaint, said that the F.E.C. did not have sufficient votes from its commissioners to move forward with an inquiry looking into Mr. Trump’s role. The six-member commission is divided between three Republican-aligned commissioners and three Democratic-aligned ones.

Paul S. Ryan, Common Cause’s vice president of policy and litigation, said he had mixed feelings about the outcome. While he felt “vindicated” by the fine, he said, he was frustrated that Mr. Trump, whom he called “the mastermind of the illegal scheme,” had not been held accountable.

Mr. Cohen, who has served time in prison in part for his involvement in the payments, said during his trial that the transaction had been part of an effort to cover up Mr. Trump’s “dirty deeds.” Mr. Pecker had agreed to an immunity deal with federal prosecutors to provide information related to the payments as part of Mr. Cohen’s trial.