A former Playboy model involved in Donald Trump’s high-profile hush money trial stated that she didn’t want to become “the next Monica Lewinsky.” During the Manhattan court proceedings, with Trump present at the defendant’s table, evidence was presented suggesting that Trump had referred to Karen McDougal, the model, as a “nice girl.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments. The charges stem from a scheme involving the National Enquirer magazine, which employed a “catch and kill” tactic to suppress damaging stories about Trump before the 2016 election. The magazine would acquire the rights to potentially harmful stories and then withhold them from publication.
One such story involved McDougal, who claimed she had an affair with Trump between 2006 and 2007. Trump has denied having an affair. During the trial, David Pecker, the former head of the National Enquirer, recounted how he sent magazine executive Dylan Howard to California to interview McDougal in 2016 when her claims first surfaced. Pecker stated that during this time, Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, was frequently in contact, making a three-way call to discuss the situation with Howard.
‘Michael and I both said they didn’t believe there was a Mexican group that was going to buy the story.
‘ABC offer, they were offering Karen a slot on Dancing with the Stars.’
According to Pecker, Howard told them McDougal didn’t want her story to be published.
‘She didn’t want to be the next Monica Lewinsky. She wanted to restart her career,’ he said.
Howard revealed that McDougal had declined an offer of $10,000 for her story. He also mentioned that ABC was interested in the story and had offered her a spot on “Dancing with the Stars.” However, McDougal resisted these offers, expressing that she didn’t want to be in the spotlight and was seeking to revitalize her career. According to Pecker, Howard shared that McDougal didn’t want her story to become public, aiming to avoid becoming a figure like Monica Lewinsky, who was at the center of the scandal surrounding Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
