I know the entire Trump presidency was a whirlwind of scandal, nepotism, corruption, and outright theft of taxpayer money. You’re forgiven if you’ve forgotten this entirely.

But in the trial he’s currently facing, where he’s been charged with 34 counts of falsifying his finances in order to influence the 2016 election, there’s a twist.

The false statements about his finances circle around “hush money” payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, AKA Stephanie Clifford. Trump had a fling with her while Melania was pregnant with Barron, and seeing that it might affect his chances of a career in politics if that got out, he paid her not to tell anyone.

It’s been all over the news lately, so I’m sure you remember all of that, or at least did after you read this far.

But do you remember the other woman Trump paid off to be quiet during that same time? Her name is Karen McDougal, and she’s going to testify.

And HER testimony? It’s going to be blockbuster.

Because she didn’t have a brief encounter with Trump, like Stormy did. She alleges that she and the ex-president had full-on, multiple encounters per month for almost a YEAR.

Damn right, Trump must be scared.

What’s going to happen to his marriage when Melania hears or reads the transcript of McDougal telling the court that she and Trump exchanged “I love yous” for 10 months, right after he married Melania?

Here is the clip where McDougal reveals that this wasn’t just a one-night fling…and that the two were in love with each other:

This is all alleged to have taken place in 2006. Trump married Melania in 2005.

And there’s backstory, too. Trump has been friends with David Pecker (yes, that’s his real name) for years. Pecker used to be the publisher of the National Enquirer, and he paid McDougal $150,000 for “exclusive rights” to her tale of the affair she had with Trump.

He never ran that story. But McDougal did benefit. In addition to being paid a cash payment, she was given the cover of a few magazines:

Karen McDougal, the ex-Playboy model who says she had an affair with Trump, is on the September cover of Men's Journal.

Read our earlier story about the strange circumstances surrounding this cover: https://t.co/loaGrNLblK pic.twitter.com/AI5Gudu5CV

— Nicole Hong (@nicole_hong) August 8, 2018

In 2021, the Federal Election Commission found that his parent company, AMI, had violated campaign laws. If he paid so that she wouldn’t give her story to anyone else, and then didn’t run the story, it basically amounted to a campaign contribution, since it was intended to help Trump win.

See the lawyer’s tweet below, along with an excerpt from McDougal’s interview with Anderson Cooper:

Example, Karen McDougal pic.twitter.com/zeqIn0MQEB

— RiversideKitty (@OnTheHudsonNYC) April 18, 2024