One of the women who signed a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from speaking about a purported affair with Donald Trump has been let out of her secrecy deal.
Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, reached the agreement Wednesday with American Media Inc., the parent firm of the National Enquirer.
According to the New York Times, the deal ends a lawsuit over the silence agreement and shields the president from getting involved in the case, as may be happening in a similar dispute involving porn-star Stormy Daniels.
AMI gave Ms, McDougal $150,000 in August 2016 for the rights to her story, but never ran an article on it.
According to the Times, Wednesday’s agreement gives AMI the right to up to $75,000 in future profits from Ms. McDougal’s recounting of the purported affair and the rights to the photographs it has taken, though she can keep the initial payment.
“It’s a total win,” McDougal attorney Peter Stris told the Times “We got everything we were fighting for — she got out of the contract, gets the life rights back and owes A.M.I. nothing more.”
The lawsuit, which AMI initially said it would fight, accused the publisher of misleading the ex-Playmate. It also accused Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal attorney and the man who paid off Ms. Daniels, of inappropriate involvement.
Citing “people involved in the case,” the Times reported that AMI changed its mind following the raid on Mr. Cohen by special counsel Robert Mueller’s agents, which resulted in the seizure of, among other things, information about AMI and the McDougal lawsuit.
In his interview with the Times, Mr. Stris said he had been preparing Wednesday to file discovery motions against AMI that would have involved a request to submit written questions to Mr. Trump.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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