A woman who once claimed to have had an affair with Donald Trump appeared to make a reference to the former president in a social media post amid his so-called ‘hush money trial.
Former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal threw what some saw as “brutal shade” at Trump with a suggestive bathtub photo and a single word, “Reflecting.”
The photo also included a copy of the book, “Catch and Kill,” which refers to a phrase that has been used during Trump’s criminal trial in New York City on allegations he falsified records related to a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels leading up to the 2016 election.
#Reflecting pic.twitter.com/BIX8j5Du5M
— Karen McDougal (@karenmcdougal98) May 4, 2024
Manhattan Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo described “catch-and-kill” to jurors in his opening statement at the trial as “when a tabloid newspaper such as the National Enquirer “buys up damaging information about someone, demands that the source sign a nondisclosure agreement to prevent them from taking that information or that story anywhere else, and then the tabloid declines to publish the story to prevent it from ever seeing the light of day.”
Daily Mail reported:
McDougal says she was paid $150,000 for her allegation of an affair with Trump, which Trump denies. The Enquirer never published the story.
Earlier in the trial, the former publisher of The Enquirer, David Pecker, described in court how Donald Trump called him in a fury when details of the secret deal with McDougal became public just four days before the 2016 election.
On November 4, 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that Pecker’s company American Media paid McDougal $150,000 but had not published her account.
“I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself and I wanted also to protect Donald Trump,” Pecker said in court.
McDougal alleged she had an affair with Trump from June 2006 to April 2007, a time when he was married to Melania Trump.
“Brutal shade. Fantastic book'” attorney Howell Ellerman wrote in response to McDougal’s bathtub post.
“Karen McDougal weighs in on the Trump trial,” New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi posted, making the connection.
“From a future witness in the Trump trial?” Brian Stelter asked.
