Paul Campos has put together a couple of very convincing articles arguing that Donald Trump, and not GOP donor Elliott Broidy, had an affair with, and impregnated, former Playmate Shera Bechard.
I’ve been trying to find the full and complete statement from Elliott Broidy, but haven’t been able to find it; here’s all of it that I can find, based on Buzzfeed’s article:
First, I 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. 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. It is unfortunate that this personal matter between two consenting adults is the subject of national discussion just because of Michael Cohen’s involvement. Mr. Cohen reached out to me after being contacted by this woman’s attorney, Keith Davidson. Although I had not previously hired Mr. Cohen, I retained Mr. Cohen after he informed me about his prior relationship with Mr. Davidson.
A few notes on this:
1. Broidy never actually claims to have had an affair with Ms. Bechard (only a “consensual relationship”; any interaction at all, such as that between payor and payee, would constitute a consensual relationship). There is no mention at all of a sexual relationship.
2. Broidy never claims to have impregnated Ms. Bechard, only that “this woman shared with me that she was pregnant”.
3. Broidy never claims to have entered into, or desired to enter into, an NDA with Ms. Bechard, or that he had potential exposure that he sought to address by contract and payment, or that he played any role in creating this "difficult period" for her... he only says that he “offered to help her financially during this difficult period”.
4. Broidy never claims that Michael Cohen reached out to him for any reason related to his involvement with Ms. Bechard, only that Cohen reached out to him. He does not make any specific claim as to his reason for hiring Mr. Cohen, other than that Cohen had a prior relationship with her attorney.
5. He does not apologize to his wife or his family for his relationship with Ms. Bechard. He apologizes for a more general “the hurt that I have caused”
6. “At the end of our relationship, this woman shared with me that she was pregnant” is clearly intended to be interpreted as, “When we broke up, she told me she was pregnant”, but that is not what he said. What he actually said could just as easily mean: “Her attorney told Cohen that she was pregnant and wanted $X, Cohen told me, I agreed, and that was the end”.
The Journal article also never actually attributes claims of an affair to Broidy; all of the specific claims that Broidy had an affair and was a party to the NDA were made by "a person familiar with the matter".
Here is the key section of the Journal article:
As part of the contract, Ms. Bechard agreed not to pursue what she said were potential legal claims against Mr. Broidy, according to the person familiar with the matter.
In the contract, Mr. Broidy denied the allegations and agreed not to make any legal claims against Ms. Bechard in return for her signing the contract, the person said.
Ms. Bechard claimed that she became pregnant and that Mr. Broidy was the father, but the contract states that matters relating to the alleged pregnancy and paternity of the alleged child are excluded from the claims resolved in the agreement, the person familiar with the matter said.
Ms. Bechard declined to provide proof that she was pregnant with Mr. Broidy’s child, the contract says, according to the person familiar with the matter.
The contract said Ms. Bechard reserved the right to seek child support in the future, but she has told Mr. Broidy’s camp that she had an abortion, the people familiar with the matter said.
Ms. Bechard alleged that Mr. Broidy, prior to the settlement, had been paying her for an exclusive sexual relationship that lasted one to two years, one of the people said.
First, note that these details are all attributed to a "person" or "people", not Broidy. Second, its difficult to tell from the article whether the "person" or "people" even made the claim...its very plausible that someone just described the contract between "David Dennison" and "Peggy Peterson" and convinced the Journal that Broidy was Dennison.
The only things actually admitted in this statement are:
Michael Cohen contacted Broidy after hearing from Ms. Bechard’s attorney.
Broidy found out that she was pregnant.
Broidy "retained" Cohen and offered to assist Ms. Bechard financially.
And that’s it.
Note that Broidy has yet to actually claim anything that contradicts Campos’ theory…
Edit:
My followups to this post are available here:
Why is Elliott Broidy so careful when talking about Shera Bechard?
Shera Bechard, Elliott Broidy, and the Inevitable End of a Presidency
(x-posted here)