President Trump’s personal attorney reportedly negotiated a settlement in 2017 to prevent a former Playboy model from going public with allegations that Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy impregnated her.
The $1.6 million deal was spearheaded by Michael Cohen, an embattled New York lawyer whose office and residences were raided by FBI agents earlier this week as part of the ongoing Russia probe. Cohen has been accused of brokering similar deals to silence two women who claim they were romantically involved with Trump while he was married to his current wife.
Broidy, a California-based venture capitalist and deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, denied allegations of a sexual relationship with the former model in a contract obtained by the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the deal on Friday. He also agreed to forego taking any legal action against the woman who claimed he impregnated her, the Journal said.
But in a statement on Friday, Broidy admitted to having once had “a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate,” who later became pregnant and chose to terminate her pregnancy.
“At the end of our relationship, this woman shared with me that she was pregnant. She alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period,” Broidy said through a spokesman.
The seven-figure deal, which was to be paid out in two quarterly installments beginning on Dec. 1 of last year, prevents the woman from sharing any details about her affair with Broidy. The woman also alleged that Broidy regularly paid her for sex over the course of two years, according to the Journal, which cited their contract.
“It is unfortunate that this personal matter between two consenting adults is the subject of national discussion just because of Michael Cohen’s involvement,” Broidy said in a statement. “Mr. Cohen reached out to me after being contacted by this woman’s attorney, Keith Davidson. Although I had not previously hired Mr. Cohen, I retained Mr. Cohen after he informed me about his prior relationship with Mr. Davidson.”
Both Broidy and Cohen have strong ties to Trump, whom the former has met with since the president took office and previously served as vice chairman of a joint fundraising committee between his campaign and the Republican National Committee.
[Related: RNC fundraiser resigns after news that he impregnated a Playboy model]
Cohen has made news lately for his involvement in a $130,000 payment that was made to adult film star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election to keep her from sharing details about her alleged affair with Trump.
The longtime Trump confidante said earlier this week that he would “rather jump out of a building” than turn on the president, after authorities seized documents and recordings from his office.
