Former President Trump's hush money case has gained renewed attention, as it includes not just the well-known payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, but also substantial indirect payments to Playboy model Karen McDougal and a doorman to keep quiet about alleged sexual encounters with Trump.
As Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg revealed that McDougal received a whopping $150,000 to remain silent about her alleged relationship with Trump, questions about her identity and connection to the ex-President have emerged.
The 52-year-old McDougal, a former Playboy model crowned "Playmate of the Year" in 1998, reportedly had a 10-month affair with Trump in 2006. American Media Inc (AMI), the corporate parent of the National Enquirer and a Trump-aligned entity, paid McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story to prevent it from going public before the 2016 presidential election – a tactic known as "catch and kill."
In a 2018 non-prosecution agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney's office, AMI acknowledged the relationship. Trump, concerned about the potential impact on his candidacy, did not want the story to become public, according to prosecutors.
They allege that David Pecker, the former AMI CEO, and Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime friend and attorney, agreed that Trump would reimburse AMI. However, Pecker ultimately decided against seeking reimbursement after consulting with a corporate lawyer.
Trump has denied the affair, and his lawyers maintain that he was unaware of the payment until after the contract was finalized. In his grand jury testimony last week, Pecker reportedly implicated Trump in the agreement and a broader conspiracy to suppress critical stories during the 2016 election. Cohen claims he arranged the payment through the Enquirer and recorded a conversation about it with Trump.
Born in Merrillville, Indiana, McDougal began her career as a ballet dancer before switching to cheerleading in high school. She worked as a pre-kindergarten teacher before transitioning to modeling in the 1990s, eventually joining Playboy and earning second place behind Pamela Anderson in the "Playmate of the 90s" poll. McDougal later made history as the first woman on the cover of Men's Fitness and appeared in TV commercials and supporting film roles.
According to McDougal, she met Trump at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles while he filmed an episode of The Apprentice. In a 2006 New Yorker article, she wrote that Trump, then married, was instantly smitten with her. Their first sexual encounter allegedly occurred in a Beverly Hills hotel bungalow in 2006, with the relationship continuing for nearly 10 months before McDougal ended it due to guilt.
Ahead of the 2016 election, she signed an agreement with the National Enquirer for $150,000, which barred her from publicly discussing the alleged affair. McDougal claims she was deceived into staying quiet about the relationship and has not commented on the New York allegations against Trump since his arrest.