Dated Trump for 10 months when he was married: what we know about Playboy star Karen McDougal, the woman in the former president's case

Former US President Donald Trump has been formally charged with a 34-count indictment that includes a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. However, the case also involves another woman - Playboy star, model and actress Karen McDougal. The prosecutor assured that the scandalous politician paid her $150,000 (5.5 million hryvnias) for her silence. But Trump did it fraudulently.

McDougal claims that Trump dated her for 10 months when he was married, but the politician himself, of course, denies all the accusations. The model did not intend to keep silent about her relationship with the 45th President of America and even signed a contract with the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper to tell them the story of their relationship, but it turned out to be a deception planned in advance by Trump himself. The BBC writes about this.

To begin with, McDougal was born in Gary, Indiana, and moved to Michigan as a child. In her 20s, she first started modelling at swimsuit competitions. She joined the Playboy Bunnies in the 90s, where she immediately became one of Hugh Hefner's favourites. Later, Karen worked as a fitness model and even became the first woman to appear on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine in 1999. She also appeared in television commercials and had cameo roles in films, such as Charlie's Angels.

In 2006, the New Yorker magazine reported that McDougal, as she told it, met Trump at the Playboy mansion in Los Angeles, where he was filming an episode of an American reality show as an executive producer.

Later, the model said that despite his marriage to Melania Trump, the politician immediately fell in love with her and told her how beautiful she was. Karen assured that she had met with Trump at least five times a month for about a year, describing these meetings as "loving and consensual".

In 2016, on the eve of the US presidential election, the Playboy star signed a $150,000 contract to tell her story to the National Enquirer. An article about McDougal and Trump's affair was promised to be published, and the woman herself, under the terms of the agreement, was forbidden to speak publicly about her relationship with the then presidential candidate.

However, the provocative material, which could have seriously damaged Trump's reputation, was never published. It turned out that the $150,000 the model allegedly received from the publication was actually Trump's money. It was he who bought the story of his former mistress, hiding behind bribed journalists. Thus, through deception, the former president forced McDougal to shut up and subsequently won the election, as his reputation was not damaged.

In 2021, the US Federal Election Commission, which is responsible for enforcing campaign finance laws, found that the Enquirer had violated election laws when it paid for the rights to McDougal's story but never published it. The Enquirer was fined $187,500 (about 7 million hryvnias).

Back in 2018, McDougal herself decided to publicly apologise to Melania Trump, assuring her that she would not want to be in her shoes: "When I look back, I know it was wrong. I am very sorry... I wouldn't want that to happen to me."

Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to deny that he ever had an affair with Karen McDougal.

As a reminder, on April 4, Donald Trump was arrested and appeared before the Lower Manhattan Criminal Court in New York.

OBOZREVATEL wrote that he was officially charged with falsifying business documents to conceal dirt and illegal activities. The indictment contains 34 counts.

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!