According to a report from Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham of ESPN, then-future President Donald Trump offered U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter a payment to shut down the federal investigation surrounding the New England Patriots videotaping scandal. The affair was originally reported by the New York Jets after the opening week of the 2007 season.
Specter, who passed away in 2012, called for an independent investigation into the scandal after expressing dissatisfaction with the NFL’s response, which involved league officials destroying the tapes in question.