Ex-Playboy Model Karen McDougal Sues To Speak Out About Donald Trump Affair

Former Playboy model Karen McDougal is suing to be able to speak about her 10-month-long affair with President Donald Trump in 2006 and 2007.

In court documents obtained by The New York Times, McDougal’s lawyers asserted that American Media Inc., a company that operates The National Enquirer and Men’s Fitness and is owned by Trump’s personal friend David Pecker, worked with Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, and McDougal’s own lawyer, Keith Davidson, to keep McDougal from speaking about her relationship with Trump one he decided to run for President.

The then-45-year-old model was deciding between sharing her story with ABC and AMI, and AMI promised that in exchange for her silence, she would receive $150,000 — 45% of which went to Davidson — and the promise that she would appear on magazine covers for Men’s Fitness and write columns for AMI. The court records declare that McDougal was unaware that Davidson was colluding with AMI and Trump’s lawyer, and that AMI had no intention of fulfilling the promises it made to her in exchange for silence.

“AMI and Mr. Davidson failed to tell Ms. McDougal that the contract’s fine print did not actually obligate AMI to run her columns—the central feature of AMI’s promise to create ongoing positive exposure for Ms. McDougal,” the record reads. “AMI and Mr. Davidson also failed to mention that they were secretly negotiating deals with other women to kill negative stories for Mr. Trump.”

McDougal’s lawyers also said Davidson pressured her into signing the contract with AMI. Afterward, she was forced to give statements ghostwritten by AMI whenever journalists came to her with “‘legitimate press inquiries’ about her past relationship with Mr. Trump.”

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Now, McDougal seeks to void her contract with AMI.

The lawsuit comes shortly after adult film star Stormy Daniels came forward alleging she had an affair with Trump in 2006 as well.