The 2017 deal was on behalf of Elliott Broidy, a businessman who faced allegations he impregnated a former Playboy model, and resembles one Mr. Cohen arranged with Stormy Daniels
President Donald Trump's personal lawyer negotiated a deal in late 2017 to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who said she was impregnated by a top Republican fundraiser, according to people familiar with the matter.
Michael Cohen, whose office, home and hotel room were raided by federal agents this week, arranged the payments to the woman on behalf of Elliott Broidy, a deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee with ties to Mr. Trump, the people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Broidy, a Los Angeles-based venture capitalist, works on the Republican committee with Mr. Cohen, who is also a national deputy finance chairman.
The deal, which hasn't previously been reported, prohibits the Los Angeles woman from disclosing her alleged relationship with Mr. Broidy in exchange for $1.6 million to be paid to her over two years in quarterly installments, these people said. The first payment was due Dec. 1, according to one of the people.
"I acknowledge I had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate," Mr. Broidy said in a statement provided by a spokesman. "At the end of our relationship, this woman shared with me that she was pregnant. She alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period."
The nondisclosure agreement involving Mr. Broidy resembles an October 2016 pact in which Mr. Cohen agreed to pay $130,000 to former adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in 2006, one of the people familiar with the matter said. The White House and Mr. Cohen have denied any encounter took place.
Ms. Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, is engaged in a legal battle with Messrs. Cohen and Trump over the validity of that contract.
The Broidy agreement uses the same pseudonyms for Mr. Broidy and the woman with whom he was allegedly involved—David Dennison and Peggy Peterson—as the earlier agreement used for Mr. Trump and Ms. Clifford, respectively, the person familiar with the matter said. Both agreements had separate side letters that listed the real names of the parties, this person said.
In the Broidy agreement, Mr. Cohen, who represented Mr. Broidy, is referred to as Dennis Donohue; Mr. Davidson, the Los Angeles lawyer who represented the woman alleged to have had a sexual relationship with Mr. Broidy, is referred to as Paul Patterson, according to the person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Davidson also represented Ms. Clifford in her deal with Mr. Cohen less than two weeks before the 2016 election. He negotiated a $150,000 payment in August 2016 for Karen McDougal, another former Playboy model, from American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, for the rights to her story of an affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen discussed that deal with American Media as the company negotiated with Ms. McDougal, according to people familiar with the matter.
American Media, run by Trump friend David Pecker, declined to run the story, the Journal reported in November 2016, a practice known in the tabloid world as "catch and kill." American Media said it paid Ms. McDougal for fitness columns and magazine covers and has denied it paid people to kill damaging stories about Mr. Trump.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-...ment-for-top-republican-fundraiser-1523638726In his statement, Mr. Broidy apologized to his family. "It is unfortunate that this personal matter between two consenting adults is the subject of national discussion just because of Michael Cohen's involvement," his statement said. "Mr. Cohen reached out to me after being contacted by this woman's attorney, Keith Davidson. Although I had not previously hired Mr. Cohen, I retained Mr. Cohen after he informed me about his prior relationship with Mr. Davidson."
