Ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal said by suing President Trump to break her silence on their extramarital affair she hopes to “set the record straight” on the relationship she had with Trump and the lies she was told by American Media Inc.
“AMI lied to me, made empty promises, and repeatedly intimidated and manipulated me,” McDougal said in a statement sent to the Washington Examiner. “I just want the opportunity to set the record straight and move on with my life, free from this company, its executives, and its lawyers.”
McDougal is suing American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer that paid her $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story and never published it — a group that’s reportedly close to Trump.
In the lawsuit, McDougal claims Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was secretly involved with AMI’s payment agreement for her story, and misled her in the deal.
McDougal’s new lawyer, Peter Stris, said AMI was a company posing as a media organization in order to achieve political and financial goals that McDougal will “no longer be quiet” about.
“Through efforts including the collusion of her own lawyer, AMI has consistently deceived and manipulated Ms. McDougal through an illegitimate contract,” Stris said. “We are confident that the so-called contract will be invalidated, and are eager for Ms. McDougal to be able to move forward with her life with the privacy she deserves.”
The Playboy model is the second woman to have had an alleged affair with President Trump who is now suing to be released from an contract.
Former porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was the first woman to sue Trump so she could get out of her nondisclosure agreement to share her story and gain a public trial rather than secret arbitration.
