Former Republican National Committee official Elliott Broidy is accused of pressuring ex-Playboy model Shera Bechard into having an abortion after getting her pregnant, according to reports.
The claim against Broidy, who stepped down as the RNC’s deputy finance chairman in April, is part of a lawsuit Bechard launched against him in which she alleges he failed to pay her $1.6 million to keep their four-year extramarital affair quiet, Bloomberg, among others, reported. The nondisclosure agreement was brokered in 2017 by Michael Cohen, who arranged similar deals for President Trump as his former longtime personal lawyer and fixer.
The allegations against Broidy were unsealed following a ruling from California Superior Court Judge Elizabeth White on Friday allowing them to be made public.
Bechard further claims Broidy refused to wear condoms, did not tell her he had genital herpes until after the demise of their relationship, and hurt her during their sexual encounters. Broidy also told her he admired Trump’s “uncanny ability to sexually abuse women and get away with it,” she alleges.
Broidy pushed back on the accusations Friday in a statement to CNN.
“This person tried to extract money from me by making up false, malicious and disgusting allegations. I have acknowledged making the mistake of having an affair, and I entered a confidential agreement to protect my family’s privacy,” he wrote. “I honored my agreement until her lawyer breached it — and then, when I failed to pay her demands, she did what blackmailers do and went public with her lies. I will vigorously defend myself against these false and defamatory allegations.”
The pair first met in California in 2013, according to the Huffington Post.
The Department of Justice is investigating Broidy for allegedly attempting to peddle his influence with the Trump administration to help Chinese and Malaysian officials, the Washington Post reported in August. He additionally tried to secure large consulting contracts from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to sway U.S. foreign policy against Qatar, according to the Associated Press in May.
