Playboy Model Karen McDougal​ Aims To Tell Tale Of Trump Affair

LOS ANGELES, CA — A former Playboy model is following in the footsteps of a porn star in seeking to nullify an agreement that bars her from discussing an alleged affair she had with Donald Trump shortly after his son was born but before he was elected president.

Karen McDougal filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Tuesday, alleging she was tricked into signing a 2016 agreement with the parent company of The National Enquirer, American Media Inc., which is controlled by Trump ally David Pecker.

According to the lawsuit, the company paid McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story, but the true intent was to keep the alleged affair out of the public eye -- a practice known as "catch and kill" -- to protect Trump.

"A quarter-billion-dollar company posing as a media organization systematically intimidated and silenced Karen McDougal in order to achieve its political and financial ends, and she will no longer be quiet," McDougal's attorney, Peter Stris, said. "Through efforts including the collusion of her own lawyer, AMI has consistently deceived and manipulated Ms. McDougal through an illegitimate contract.

"We are confident that the so-called contract will be invalidated, and are eager for Ms. McDougal to be able to move forward with her life with the privacy she deserves," he said.

McDougal alleges AMI "lied to me, made empty promises and repeatedly intimidated and manipulated me."

"I just want the want the opportunity to set the record straight and move on with my life, free from this company, its executives and its lawyers," she said.

In her lawsuit, McDougal claims she had a 10-month relationship with Trump in 2006-07.

AMI officials could not be reached for immediate comment. The company told The New York Times -- which broke the story of McDougal's lawsuit -- last month that it initially chose not to print her story when they first learned of her allegations last year because it could not verify important details.

However, that's when McDougal began talking to ABC News about the affair. So AMI returned to her with the $150,000 payment for the purpose of buying her story, "but it would not publish the story" because of Pecker's relationship with Trump, the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit alleges that McDougal was "duped" by her then-lawyer, Keith Davidson, into signing the agreement.

McDougal's lawsuit follows that of porn star/stripper Stormy Daniels, who is suing Trump to nullify a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 election. Paid $130,000 by Trump's personal attorney, Daniels contends the contract is void because Trump never signed it. Though Trump's representatives have denied the affair and claimed he had no knowledge of the nondisclosure agreement, he nevertheless sued the porn star last week for $20 million. Trump's lawsuit contends she violated the agreement by publicly discussing the affair.

Daniels' lawsuit, originally filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, was transferred Monday to federal court in downtown Los Angeles. Daniels also claims she had an affair with the married Trump in 2006-07, the same time as McDougal's alleged relationship with him. Both alleged affairs happened shortly after Trump's youngest son Barron was born while he was married to Melania Trump.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo: Karen McDougal on October 15, 2004 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Cherie Steinberg/Getty Images)