Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who claims to have had an affair with Trump, is suing the Trump allied National Enquirer to break her NDA so that she can talk publicly about Trump.
Ms. McDougal, in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims that Mr. Cohen was secretly involved in her talks with A.M.I., and that the media company and her lawyer at the time misled her about the deal. She also asserts that after she spoke with The New Yorker last month after it obtained notes she kept on Mr. Trump, A.M.I. warned that “any further disclosures would breach Karen’s contract†and “cause considerable monetary damages.â€
In an email to The New York Times, her new lawyer, Peter K. Stris, accused A.M.I. of “a multifaceted effort to silence Karen McDougal.â€
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
The National Enquirer bought the rights to McDougal’s story and then buried it while keeping her silent through an NDA.
Trump’s cover-up is coming apart
Ari Melber of MSNBC explained, “This is significant breaking news. This is another woman’s account who was originally reported in “The New Yorker.” But this goes to what Mr. Avenatti is saying, this breaking news is the suggestion here that the reason that the trump white house and the Trump Organization, which is involved in all of this, has gone to such great lengths to silence miss Daniels is that maybe there are other people. Well, now we’re seeing one with another alleged NDA. And obviously this news is just coming into our newsroom, courtesy of the New York Times, as you said, Chris. But this explains why as I was mentioning moments ago, we saw such an unusual Friday night filing from the white house, basically in the visage of Donald Trump, personally entering the litigation, which is not something you do lightly but does suggest they want to stop this. And so the question that emerges is, how many other people, how many other women may be out there with NDAs trying to decide, is it in their interest to stay quiet, or if these things are going to break, and they have something they want to say, can they do that without being exposed to millions of dollars in fees or bankruptcy?”
Video of Melber:
.@AriMelber explains why Karen McDougal lawsuit to get out of the NDA about her affair with Trump is a big deal. https://t.co/NGXejgYjiP pic.twitter.com/KwIYlnxPYZ
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 20, 2018
If these women no longer need to worry about NDAs, there is nothing stopping them from coming forward and talking about what they know. Trump has for decades used NDAs to silence witnesses about his own behavior, but the damn is breaking. The truth is about to be revealed. If everyone who has been silenced by a Trump NDA files a lawsuit, the president can’t fight them all.
America is witnessing the disintegration of the Trump presidency as the Trump loose ends are coming undone.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
