Businessman and Republican megadonor Elliott Broidy. Image by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Pepperdine University

By Josh Nathan-Kazis April 13, 2018

Michael Cohen wasn’t just arranging payoffs for women who claimed to have had affairs with President Trump.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Cohen orchestrated a $1.6 million payoff to a former Playboy model impregnated by Elliott Broidy, a prominent Jewish Republican donor.

“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.”

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The FBI raided Cohen’s office earlier this week, reportedly seeking documents related to payoffs he had orchestrated to women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

Broidy, like Cohen, is a top official at the Republican National Committee. He’s also a member of the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition. The New York Times reported in March that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia had sought to build relationships with Broidy to influence Trump.

According to the Journal’s report, the agreement that Cohen orchestrated for Broidy closely resembled the one that Cohen had orchestrated between Trump and the adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels, including the same pseudonyms.

According to the Journal, the former model alleged that Broidy had paid her for an exclusive sexual relationship.

Shortly after publishing the story, a Journal reporter tweeted that the RNC had accepted Broidy’s resignation as deputy finance chair.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

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