LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Playboy model’s lawsuit against a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump and other Republicans revealed embarrassing details of their sexual affair and said she feared for her safety after he impregnated her, according to previously censored allegations unsealed Friday.
Shera Bechard said she went to a lawyer after Elliott Broidy became violent, behaved in a “profoundly disturbing” manner and demanded she get an abortion.
The details came to light in Los Angeles Superior Court after The Associated Press and other news organizations fought to unseal Bechard’s lawsuit alleging Broidy failed to pay a $200,000 installment toward a $1.6 million hush payment.
Broidy’s lawyers said payments stopped because Bechard’s former lawyer discussed the confidential agreement with attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents porn actress Stormy Daniels in a suit against Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
The affair became public in part because Cohen represented Broidy in the settlement. Cohen pleaded guilty last month to paying off Daniels “at the direction” of Trump to influence the election.
Broidy resigned in April as deputy finance chairman for the Republican National Committee after the affair was reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Broidy had fought to keep the salacious details in Bechard’s suit under wraps because he said they were false, maligned his reputation, invaded his right to privacy and were irrelevant to the case.
Judge Elizabeth Allen White agreed to strike allegations that were irrelevant to the breach of contract dispute going forward but not seal the complaint.
In the newly uncensored sections of the lawsuit, Bechard, a two-time Playboy centerfold, said she met Broidy at a restaurant in 2013 and carried on an extramarital relationship for years, exposing intimate details of their sex life.
She said she and Broidy referred to each other as “mommy” and “daddy” and he shared personal information about his children with her, told her he loved her and would financially support her. But in 2016 he became increasingly violent and also told her she was “fat and needed to fix it” with liposuction, the suit said.
Bechard said Broidy, who refused to wear a condom, didn’t disclose for years that he had genital herpes. She said he pushed her to drink heavily so she was more compliant and that ultimately led to her letting her guard down and becoming pregnant.
She said Broidy initially supported her keeping the baby, but later demanded she get an abortion and insisted “nobody can know.”
She said she feared Broidy because he had a gun and told her he could make people disappear, the suit said.
Broidy, who acknowledged the affair, said in a statement he would defend himself from false and defamatory allegations.
“This person tried to extract money from me by making up false, malicious and disgusting allegations,” he said. “I honored my agreement until her lawyer breached it— and then, when I failed to pay her demands, she did what blackmailers do and went public with her lies.”
Bechard is also suing her former attorney, Keith Davidson, who once represented Daniels, and Avenatti.
A judge tossed two counts against Avenatti on Friday and he said he would appeal the final count.