Plaintiff in Chief by James D. Zirin

Author:James D. Zirin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

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And then there were stories that suspiciously never saw the light of day. Karen McDougal, a Playboy centerfold model, alleged that she had had a yearlong extramarital affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007 while he was married to his incumbent wife, Melania. Through a spokesperson, Trump denied the relationship. On August 5, 2016, just three months before the election, McDougal sold her story exclusively to American Media, Inc., owner of the National Enquirer. As noted earlier, American Media’s CEO and guiding spirit, David Pecker, was a longtime friend of Trump’s.

The relationship between Trump and the National Enquirer could not have been closer. David Hughes, an American Media board member, spent many years as an executive in Trump’s casino business. Enquirer board meetings were frequently held at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s opulent Palm Beach estate. An executive even acknowledged to the New York Times that American Media made broad efforts to suppress information that might prove damaging to Trump.

American Media entered into a “catch-and-kill” contract with McDougal wherein, in exchange for $150,000, she granted the tabloid in perpetuity “exclusive life rights to any relationship she has had with a then married man.” Many lawyers believe that in the era of Harvey Weinstein, catch-and-kill contracts are unenforceable. In a written statement, American Media at first claimed it did not pay McDougal to hush up her relationship with Trump, but to acquire two years of her fitness columns and magazine covers. Later, under a no-prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office, American Media admitted that it had paid the “hush money” to McDougal in concert with Trump’s presidential campaign. It acknowledged that its principal purpose in making the payment was to buy McDougal’s silence lest she make “damaging allegations” about Trump on the eve of the presidential election.

McDougal signed an engagement letter with attorney Keith Davidson, the same lawyer who, as will be seen, represented Stormy Daniels. The engagement letter defined the scope of representation as “claims against Donald Trump and/or assisting client in negotiating a confidentiality agreement and/or life rights related to interactions with Donald Trump and/or negotiating assignment of exclusive press opportunities regarding same.” McDougal has since sued American Media for a declaratory judgment invalidating the catch-and-kill agreement.

Davidson is a California lawyer who has made his way peddling dirt on Hollywood celebrities, including wrestler Hulk Hogan, Austin Powers actor Verne Troyer, and former Playboy model and MTV host Tila Tequila. The FBI had quizzed Davidson in 2012 about possible extortion in the Hulk Hogan case. When Davidson cuts a catch-and-kill deal for a client, he gets a contingency fee of as much as 60 percent of the sales price. According to the New York Times, the California State Bar suspended his law license for 90 days in 2010 on four counts of professional misconduct. Davidson reported to Michael Cohen that the catch-and-kill deal between McDougal and the Enquirer had gone down. Cohen gave Davidson a ringing endorsement: “He has always been professional, ethical, and a true gentleman.” You may wonder whether Davidson was somehow working for Trump to facilitate the agreement.

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