GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy‘s departure follows reports that in 2017 President Donald Trump’s attorney negotiated a $1.6 million payment on Broidy’s behalf to a Playboy Playmate who said that Broidy had impregnated her. | Alex J. Berliner/ABImages via AP RNC fundraiser resigns after report of $1.6 million Playmate payoff

GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy has stepped down as Republican National Committee deputy finance chair, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The departure followed reports on Friday afternoon that in 2017, President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen had negotiated a $1.6 million payment on Broidy’s behalf to a Playboy Playmate who said that Broidy had impregnated her.

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The resignation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

He is the second RNC Finance Committee member to step aside in recent months.

Earlier this year, Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned amid allegations that he’d sexually harassed women who’d worked for him.

Broidy, a 62-year-old Los Angeles-based investor, is an influential figure in Republican politics who has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to GOP candidates and committees over the years.

He played a key role in helping Trump raise money ahead of the 2016 election.

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He also sits on the board of the influential Republican Jewish Coalition, a group funded in part by billionaire megadonor Sheldon Adelson.

Broidy has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months amid allegations that he tried to negotiate a multimillion-dollar fee to get the U.S. government to cease its investigation into a Malaysian investment fund.

Cohen, whose Manhattan home and office were raided earlier this week by FBI investigators, remains on the RNC finance committee.

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</s>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...</s>(CBS News) — Elliott Broidy, a prominent GOP fundraiser, has resigned as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News. Broidy’s resignation followed a Friday Wall Street Journal report that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s embattled personal attorney, had negotiated $1.6 million in payments to a former Playboy model who said Broidy had impregnated her.

“I acknowledge I had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate,” Broidy said in a statement to the Journal. “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.”

According to the paper, Broidy’s deal with the Playboy model prevents her from speaking out about the agreement. In return, she was promised $1.6 million that would be paid in quarterly installments over a period of two years.

Cohen is also a deputy finance chair at the RNC. On Monday, federal agents raided his home, office, and hotel room. The raid stemmed from information gathered during the course of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling but is part of a separate federal investigation.

The raid seized documents relating to Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump more than a decade ago, and is working with federal authorities.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mueller’s investigation, personally approved the raid. Mr. Trump called the raid a “disgrace” and “an attack on our country” while speaking to reporters Monday night.

In January, casino magnate Steve Wynn resigned as the RNC’s finance director after the Journal reported that numerous women had accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct over a period of several decades.</s>A top GOP fundraiser and prominent backer of President Donald Trump stepped down from his Republican National Committee post Friday after revelations that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a $1.6 million settlement with a former Playboy model the donor had impregnated.

Los Angeles-based investor Elliott Broidy, who has been a top fundraiser for Trump and the party, issued a statement Friday acknowledging that he "had a consensual relationship" with the woman, who got pregnant. He said he retained Cohen after the Trump lawyer told Broidy he had been contacted by the woman's attorney.

"It is unfortunate that this personal matter between two consenting adults is the subject of national discussion just because of Michael Cohen's involvement," Broidy said in the statement.

In the wake of the revelation of the deal Friday afternoon, Broidy stepped down from his post as RNC deputy national finance chairman, according to two people familiar with the situation who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity. RNC officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

Federal prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations in connection to his efforts to tamp down damaging stories about Trump during the 2016 campaign, according to people familiar with the case.

Neither Cohen nor his lawyer immediately responded to requests for comment on the settlement, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Under terms of the deal negotiated by Cohen for Broidy, who is married, the woman with whom he had an affair is prohibited from talking about the relationship in exchange for payments to be made over a two-year period, according to a person familiar with the details. The deal also allowed the woman to keep the baby, determine paternity and seek child support if she chose to do so.

Cohen's work on the Broidy settlement, struck in late 2017, came after he negotiated a deal in October 2016, agreeing to pay $130,000 to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.

Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented Daniels at the time, also represented the Playboy model with whom Broidy had an affair.

Davidson declined to comment on the settlement. "I can't confirm or deny the existence of such matters," he said. "But I've always acted in my clients' best interests and appropriately in all situations."

"Mr. Cohen reached out to me after being contacted by this woman's attorney, Keith Davidson," Broidy said in his statement. "Although I had not previously hired Mr. Cohen, I retained Mr. Cohen after he informed me about his prior relationship with Mr. Davidson."

Friday's revelation focuses more attention on Cohen, a longtime Trump confidant whose residences and office were raided by the FBI earlier this week.

Cohen and Broidy met during the 2016 campaign, when Broidy, a California native and major GOP donor, emerged as a key financial backer of the RNC. Until Friday, they both served as deputy national finance chairmen there. Last month, Broidy co-hosted a fundraiser for Trump's reelection campaign in Los Angeles.

So far this cycle, Broidy and his wife have contributed $614,000 to Republican campaign committees and the RNC, records show.

In the first year of the Trump administration, Broidy was an outspoken advocate at the White House and on Capitol Hill on Middle East issues, particularly the need for action against Qatar, a rival power of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Broidy worked with George Nader, a Lebanese American businessman and power broker in the region who has been working directly in recent years for the UAE, according to people familiar with their relationship.

Nader has been cooperating with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

In his statement, Broidy said he would "like to sincerely apologize to my wife and family for the hurt that I have caused."

"I acknowledge I had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate," he said. "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. We have not spoken since that time."

The Broidy deal reveals new details about the relationship between Davidson, a celebrity lawyer in Los Angeles, and Cohen, Trump's hard-charging fixer in New York.

In October 2016, Davidson negotiated with Cohen the confidentiality agreement for Daniels. Cohen, Daniels and Davidson signed the agreement.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has sued to break the agreement, arguing that it is invalid because Trump failed to sign it. Cohen and Trump are seeking to force the matter out of court and into private arbitration, where proceedings are confidential.

Davidson and Cohen were also in communication about a third agreement involving former Playboy centerfold Karen McDougal.

McDougal, who says she had a 10-month affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007, sold the rights to her story to the parent company of the National Enquirer for $150,000 in August 2016. She has said she understood that American Media was buying her story not to publish it, but to bury it, in what has been called a "catch and kill" arrangement.

The day before she signed the contract, Davidson emailed Cohen and told him by phone that the deal was finalized, according to a person familiar with the conversation.

McDougal has sued to break free of her contract so she can speak freely, arguing that her story about Trump is "core political speech entitled to the highest protection under the law." AMI has asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing that the deal is protected under the First Amendment.</s>Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, negotiated a $1.6 million payment to a former Playboy model who said a Republican National Committee official got her pregnant, according to a new report.

Cohen handled the settlement to the woman for Elliot Broidy, a venture-capitalist who serves as a deputy finance chairman for the RNC, the Wall Street reported Friday. The payment bars the woman, who is based in Los Angeles, from speaking about her relationship with Broidy. The money will be paid to her in quarterly installments and the first installment was due on Dec. 1, the reported.

“I acknowledge I had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate,” Broidy said in a statement. “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. We have not spoken since that time.”

Broidy said he hired Cohen to handle the matter after being contacted by the woman’s attorney, Keith Davidson. The report puts further scrutiny on Cohen, who had his home, office and a hotel room raided by FBI agents this week. The raids were reported to be connected to payments made by Cohen to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who claims to have had a consensual affair with Trump in 2006.

Cohen also serves as national deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee, while the finance chairman is former casino magnate Steve Wynn, who has been accused of sexual misconduct.</s>
• President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, negotiated a $1.6 million payment to a former Playboy model who says a top Republican fundraiser named Elliott Broidy got her pregnant, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• Broidy, a close friend of Trump's, works on the Republican National Committee with Cohen.
• The Journal said that the payment was negotiated late last year and that the first installment was due on December 1.
• Cohen's property was raided earlier this week by FBI agents said to be looking into allegations of bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance law violations.
• Broidy's name has also come up in recent reports about the Russia investigation.

President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, negotiated a $1.6 million payment to a former Playboy model who says a top Republican National Committee official named Elliott Broidy got her pregnant, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

According to The Journal, the deal was negotiated late last year and blocks the woman from disclosing details of her relationship with Broidy. The first payment was due on December 1, the report says.

Broidy told the newspaper he had a consensual relationship with the woman.

"At the end of our relationship, this woman shared with me that she was pregnant," he said. "She alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period."

Broidy, who is married, is a close friend of Trump's and works on the RNC with Cohen, the report says.

The nondisclosure agreement between Broidy and the woman includes the woman's allegation that Broidy paid her for a sexual relationship that lasted one to two years, The Journal reported.

The report says the pseudonyms for Broidy and the woman in the agreement mirror those used in a separate nondisclosure agreement between Trump and an adult-film actress. Cohen has acknowledged he negotiated that deal shortly before the 2016 US election.

Cohen has been a staple in headlines since the FBI raided his hotel room and office on Monday.

The New York Times reported that the agency was acting on a referral from the special counsel Robert Mueller, who most likely sent it because he had discovered evidence of wrongdoing connected to Cohen that was not within his purview in the Russia investigation.

The Washington Post later reported that investigators were looking into whether Cohen committed bank fraud or wire fraud or violated campaign finance law.

Investigators who raided Cohen's properties are said to have sought records of payments to two women who say they had an affair with Trump; materials connected to the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape featuring Trump; recordings of Cohen's conversations with associates; attorney-client communications between Trump and Cohen; and Cohen's electronic devices and financial documents.

Broidy's name, meanwhile, has also come up in connection with the Russia investigation as Mueller has looked into whether foreign governments sought to push policies favorable to them within the Trump campaign or administration.

A Times report late last month detailed emails between Broidy and George Nader, a Middle East adviser who is now said to be cooperating with Mueller. According to The Times, the two men pushed the White House to oust Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and adopt an aggressive approach toward Iran and Qatar, as well as asked Trump to meet with the Emirati leader outside the White House.</s>
• President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, reportedly negotiated a $1.6 million settlement to a former Playboy model who said top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy got her pregnant.
• Broidy is a close friend of Trump's, and he works on the Republican National Committee with Cohen.
• The alleged payment was reportedly negotiated in late 2017, and the first payment was due on December 1.
• Cohen's property was raided earlier this week by FBI agents reportedly investigating him for bank fraud, wire fraud, and violations of election law.
• Broidy's name has also come up in connection to the Russia investigation.

President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, negotiated a large payment to a former Playboy model who claims top Republican National Committee (RNC) official Elliott Broidy got her pregnant, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to The Journal, the deal was negotiated in late 2017 and blocks the woman from disclosing details of her relationship with Broidy. The first payment was reportedly due on December 1.

Broidy acknowledged his relationship with the former model in a statement to the outlet, saying he had a consensual relationship with her.

"At the end of our relationship, this woman shared with me that she was pregnant," the statement continued. "She alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period."

Broidy, who is married, is a close friend of Trump's and works on the RNC with Cohen.

Cohen's name became a staple in headlines this week after it surfaced that the FBI raided his home and office on Monday after reportedly getting a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller. According to The New York Times, Mueller made the referral after he likely discovered evidence of wrongdoing connected to Cohen that was not within his purview in the Russia investigation.

The Washington Post later reported that Cohen is under investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud, and violations of election law.

When they raided his property, investigators seized records of payments to two women who claim to have had an affair with Trump; materials connected to the "Access Hollywood" tape featuring Trump; tape recordings of Cohen's conversations with his associates; attorney-client communications between Trump and Cohen; and Cohen's electronic devices and personal financial records.

Broidy's name, meanwhile, has also come up in connection to Mueller's investigation.

In recent months, Mueller has been looking into whether foreign governments sought to influence the Trump campaign or administration's platform and push policies favorable to their views.</s>President Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant Michael Cohen negotiated a settlement for a top GOP fundraiser who impregnated a Playboy model, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Cohen negotiated the deal, worth $1.6 million, on behalf of Elliott Broidy, a California-based venture capitalist, close ally of President Trump, and the deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee. Cohen is a national deputy finance chairman for the RNC. The payment was negotiated towards the end of 2017, according to the Journal.

Broidy in a statement to the Wall Street Journal confirmed the affair with the unnamed woman and that the woman informed him she had become 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,” Broidy said.

The deal was negotiated by the same players involved in a October 2016 $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, an ex-porn star who claims to have had a one-night stand with Trump in 2006. Cohen arranged for that payment, a transaction Trump has denied involvement in. Daniels at the time of the payment was being represented by Keith Davidson, the same attorney who represented the woman in the Broidy negotiations, according to the Journal.

The FBI raided Cohen’s office, home and hotel on Monday. The search warrant reportedly sought information related to the Daniels payment, as well as a $150,000 payment by National Enquirer’s parent company in 2016 to buy the rights of claims made by another Playboy model, Karen McDougal that she had an affair with Trump. National Enquirer never ran McDougal’s allegations and gave her a fitness column instead, prompting speculation that the payment was intended to keep her allegations from coming out in what is known in the tabloid world as a “catch and kill.” National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc. is run by David Pecker, a longtime friend of Trump’s.

It’s not clear what role, if any, Cohen had in that transaction.</s>A major donor with close ties to the White House resigned today as deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee after the revelation that he had agreed to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair.

A major donor with close ties to the White House resigned today as deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee after the revelation that he had agreed to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair.

The deal was arranged by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen.

Under the terms of the deal, the Republican donor, Elliott Broidy, would pay the woman in installments over the course of two years, and in return, she would agree to stay silent about their relationship, two people with knowledge of the arrangement told The New York Times. The deal was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The lawyer for the woman, Keith M. Davidson, also represented two women who were paid during the presidential campaign for their silence about alleged affairs with Trump — a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who sold the rights to her story to American Media Inc., and Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic actress known as Stormy Daniels, who received a payment of $130,000 that Cohen said came out of his own pocket.

The FBI raided Cohen’s Manhattan office and hotel room Monday seeking business records, emails and documents relating to those two agreements, as well as Cohen’s work for the Trump Organization and efforts to suppress negative information about the president.

It is unclear whether the FBI has scrutinized Davidson.

The deal involving Broidy was not known to be a subject of the investigation.

In his statement, Broidy apologized to his wife and family while acknowledging that he had had an affair with the woman. He said that “she alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period.”

He lamented that the issue had become a national news story, and blamed it for the investigations into Cohen. He said that “Mr. Cohen reached out to me after being contacted by this woman’s attorney, Keith Davidson,” and that he hired Cohen after Cohen “informed me about his prior relationship with Mr. Davidson.”

In fact, the contract used in Broidy’s case included the same aliases that were used in the 2016 contract relating to Trump and Clifford — David Dennison and Peggy Peterson — according to a person familiar with it.

A spokesman for Davidson said he could not confirm or deny the details of the agreement. In a statement, Davidson said, “I’ve always acted in my client’s best interest, and appropriately in all matters.”

Davidson’s relationship with Cohen forms part of the basis for a lawsuit brought by McDougal. She is seeking to get out of her contract with AMI, the owner of The National Enquirer, which never ran her story after it bought it in August 2016.

In the lawsuit, she contends that Cohen played a secret role in the negotiations for that deal, which allegedly involved only herself and the tabloid media company. The Times reported earlier this year that Cohen and Davidson discussed the deal the day before McDougal signed the contract.

Broidy was a major fundraiser for George W. Bush, but he is particularly connected in Trump’s orbit.

He got his start in business as an accountant and then as an investment manager for Glen Bell, the founder of Taco Bell. He was a vice chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee, has met frequently with top White House officials and had an Oval Office meeting with the president in October, according to documents obtained by The Times.

During the wide-ranging October meeting, Broidy raised numerous topics high on the agenda of the United Arab Emirates, a country that has given his security company a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He pitched the president on a paramilitary force his company was developing for the UAE and urged Trump to fire Rex Tillerson, then the secretary of state, whom the UAE believed was insufficiently tough on its rival Qatar.

The documents show that Broidy has worked closely with George Nader, an adviser to the UAE and a witness in the special counsel’s investigation, to help steer Trump administration policy on numerous issues in the Middle East. Robert Mueller, the special counsel, is examining Nader’s possible role in funneling Emirati money to finance Trump’s political efforts. There is no indication that Mueller’s team is looking into Broidy.

In 2009, Broidy pleaded guilty to charges that he made nearly $1 million worth of illegal gifts to New York state officials to win an investment of $250 million from the state’s public pension fund. Among the gifts were trips to Israel and Italy, payouts to girlfriends and relatives of officials and an investment in one relative’s production of a low-budget movie called “Chooch.”</s>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 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.
Elliott Broidy resigns as deputy financial chairman of the U.S. Republican National Committee following reports that he negotiated a $1.6 million payoff with a Playboy Playmate over claims he had impregnated her.