Former Playboy model asks for additional $200K for settlement with top Republican Party donor

By Associated PressFirst Published Aug 1, 2018, 1:44 PM IST
Highlights

Bechard and Broidy had an affair, which led to Bechard becoming pregnant, and Broidy agreed to pay her $1.6 m as part of a confidentiality agreement, according to court documents

Unsealed court documents have revealed that a former Playboy centrefold model has asked for an additional $ 200,000, beyond a $ 1.6 million settlement, from a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump.

Several news organisations, including the Associated Press, fought to make the lawsuit public and a redacted copy was released on 31 July.

Ex-Playboy model Shera Bechard filed a lawsuit under seal earlier this month against the Republican Party fundraiser, Elliott Broidy, her former attorney Keith Davidson, and Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Bechard and Broidy had an affair, which led to Bechard becoming pregnant, and Broidy agreed to pay her $ 1.6 m as part of a confidentiality agreement, according to court documents. The settlement was supposed to be made in a series of eight payments of $ 200,000, court papers said.

Broidy stopped making payments to Bechard in July after paying two installments and alleges that the agreement was breached because Davidson had improperly discussed the details of the confidentiality agreement with Avenatti, according to the lawsuit.

Bechard charges that Broidy's refusal to pay is also a breach of the agreement.

She alleges that she has suffered damages because of that breach and is demanding a $ 200,000 payment from Broidy, the "immediate acceleration" of at least two of the installment payments or being paid the rest of the money that she hasn't been paid as part of the settlement.

Eric Rose, a spokesman for Broidy, said in an email that, "Given the confidentiality issues, Elliott is going to let his legal team's court filings speak for themselves."

Bechard met with Davidson in October 2017 when she was then seven-weeks pregnant with Broidy's child, according to the lawsuit, but the details of what was discussed at the meeting were redacted.

Davidson negotiated a settlement with Michael Cohen, who represented Broidy in the agreement but is best known as President Donald Trump's former longtime personal attorney and fixer.

Bechard alleges that Davidson was secretly working with Cohen and had negotiated a settlement that was advantageous to Broidy and 35% of the payments were to go to Davidson.

"Despite his fiduciary and ethical duties to his client, Mr Davidson treated Ms Bechard's claims as a commodity to be traded for his financial gain," the lawsuit says.

Earlier this month, Avenatti said that Davidson who had also previously represented Daniels had volunteered information about Bechard's agreement in April.

Davidson claimed that he contacted Cohen to ask if he knew the Republican donor and Cohen later indicated he was going to represent the donor, Avenatti said.

Daniels is suing Trump over a confidentiality agreement that Cohen negotiated days before the 2016 presidential election regarding an alleged 2006 affair that Trump denies.

Separately, the Justice Department has been investigating Cohen for months; his lawyer recently released secret recordings between Cohen and Trump from 2016 regarding payments to another former Playboy model who also alleges an affair with the future president.

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