Donald Trump ‘had Jared Kushner pressure tabloid to publish Scarborough murder conspiracy theory’

Donald Trump had Jared Kushner pressure the National Enquirer to publish the debunked conspiracy theory that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough murdered a Congressional aide, insiders have claimed.

The president has refused to back down from the unfounded claim despite the deep upset it has caused to both Scarborough and Lori Klausutis’ relatives.

‘I’ve always felt he got away with murder,’ Trump told Fox News yesterday. ‘That was my feeling, my very strong feeling, and I do feel it.’ 

This despite Scarborough, a former GOP House member, being in Washington and police finding no foul play in the 2001 death of staffer Klausutis at a Florida satellite office.

Trump’s obsession with the smear dates back to 2017, sources told The Daily Beast, when he allegedly started asking White House aides if he should tweet about ‘the dead girl.’

He is said to have been cautioned against pushing the conspiracy theory but still asked his son-in-law, Kushner, to have the National Enquirer run the story.

President Donald Trump returns to the White House after visiting outside St. John's Church, Monday

‘Trump through Kushner was begging [Enquirer publisher David] Pecker to do something about Scarborough [and Klausutis’ death],’ a source told The Daily Beast. ‘The Enquirer started working on a story at their behest’ (pictured: Kushner outside the White House last month, left, and Trump returning to the White House on Monday, right)

‘Trump through Kushner was begging [Enquirer publisher David] Pecker to do something about Scarborough [and Klausutis’ death],’ a source told The Daily Beast. ‘The Enquirer started working on a story at their behest.’

American Media Inc declined to comment on the recent claims, with one White House source calling the claims made to the Daily Beast ‘completely false.’

Joe Scarborough last week responded to the malicious claims and described the hurt they had caused to his family and Lori Klausutis' widower

Joe Scarborough last week responded to the malicious claims and described the hurt they had caused to his family and Lori Klausutis’ widower

Kushner is said to have acted as the conduit between Trump and David Pecker, a long-time confidant of the president and whose company admitted to making a $150,000 hush money payment to an alleged Trump mistress ahead of the 2016 election.

Multiple sources at the tabloid told The Daily Beast that in the spring of 2017 staff were tasked with pursuing the Scarborough smear.

Despite the efforts of veteran reporters, ‘the story never went anywhere,’ one source told The Daily Beast, adding that ‘if there was something there we would’ve bit into it and stayed with it.’ 

Officials found that Klausutis had an undiagnosed heart problem that caused her to collapse and hit her head off her desk. She was found dead in the office in July 2001.

Scarborough and his wife and co-host Mika Brzezinski had been friends with Trump, but are now prominent critics. 

Scarborough responded to the accusations a week ago by dedicating time during his show to pay tribute to Klausutis. 

Kushner talking over the phone as he steps out of his Washington D.C. home on Thursday morning

Kushner talking over the phone as he steps out of his Washington D.C. home on Thursday morning

Last Wednesday, Joe Scarborough dedicated time to Trump's claims, calling the president's actions 'heartbreaking.' 'The cruelty is unspeakable,' Scarborough added, because Trump's continued to push the smear that Lori Klausutis was murdered

Last Wednesday, Joe Scarborough dedicated time to Trump’s claims, calling the president’s actions ‘heartbreaking.’ ‘The cruelty is unspeakable,’ Scarborough added, because Trump’s continued to push the smear that Lori Klausutis was murdered

‘I think Americans should know about all of this,’ Scarborough said on ‘Morning Joe’ last Wednesday. 

‘I didn’t know Lori well. She worked in an annex office… I met her a couple of times at a couple of public events. But after she passed away [her widower] T.J. told me that she was working in a bank and she was a lifelong Republican and a faithful Catholic… and she decided she wanted to work in something bigger than herself,’ he recalled.

Lori Klausutis died at age 28 in 2001. She had an undiagnosed heart condition and fell and hit her head at work

Lori Klausutis died at age 28 in 2001. She had an undiagnosed heart condition and fell and hit her head at work 

‘I’ve thought about this. A good woman, a young woman’s desire to do something good for the country that she loved… and now the President of the United States is sullying this good woman’s name,’ Scarborough continued. ‘It is heartbreaking, the cruelty is unspeakable.’  

On the show, Scarborough admitted there had been rumors swirling about Klausutis’ death for years – and so Trump was right when he said, at one point, that the conspiracy theory ‘was not a Donald Trump original thought.’ 

Scarborough blamed ‘vile people driven by hatred and petty politics.’ 

‘Your attacks pass through me and they terrorize a family that has not been able to let their loved one rest in peace!’ Scarborough argued. ‘Enough! Let this poor woman rest in peace and let her family finally be able to move on with their lives, 19 years later.’ 

Klausutis’ widower Timothy, or T.J., had made that point to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a May 21 letter to the tech tycoon. 

Timothy Klausutis told Dorsey ‘I have struggled to move forward with my life’ blaming the ‘constant barrage of falsehoods, half-truths, innuendo and conspiracy theories since the day she died.’ 

President Trump has continued to tweet about the conspiracy theory - despite Lori Klausutis' family being so rattled by it that her widower asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to pull Trump's tweets about his dead wife down

President Trump has continued to tweet about the conspiracy theory – despite Lori Klausutis’ family being so rattled by it that her widower asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to pull Trump’s tweets about his dead wife down  

Timothy Klausutis sent a letter to Twitter on May 21, but it didn't deter President Trump from calling Lori Klausutis' death a 'Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough,' adding that he thought the television host was a 'Nut Job'

Timothy Klausutis sent a letter to Twitter on May 21, but it didn’t deter President Trump from calling Lori Klausutis’ death a ‘Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough,’ adding that he thought the television host was a ‘Nut Job’   

There are among the tweets that Timothy Klausutis flagged and asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to strike from the site. Twitter refused to pull the tweets but has started flagging Trump's tweets in other way

There are among the tweets that Timothy Klausutis flagged and asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to strike from the site. Twitter refused to pull the tweets but has started flagging Trump’s tweets in other way 

Timothy Klausutis wanted Dorsey to pull down Trump’s tweets from his website in which the president brought up Lori Klausutis and suggested Scarborough had an affair with her and then murdered her. 

Twitter didn’t remove the president’s tweets about Lori Klausutis’ death, but the site did start fact-checking and flagging Trump’s tweets. 

This set off a war between Twitter and the White House with the president signing an executive order attempting to open up the social media website to more lawsuits.   

When asked about Timothy Klausutis’ letter, Trump stayed on-message, calling Lori Klausutis’ death ‘very sad and very suspicious.’ 

Trump said he’d seen the widower’s letter and added, ‘but I’m sure ultimately they want to get to the bottom of it and it’s a very serious situation.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk