Former Playboy model Karen McDougal will not be giving evidence against Donald Trump partly because she might have made the former president look too good, a legal expert has told Newsweek.
New York University law professor, Stephen Gillers said that McDougal had a long-term affair with Trump, who denies the relationship, and some of her testimony might reflect well on the former president.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is the first former president in United States history to stand trial in a criminal case. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has continually said that this case and other criminal and civil matters involving him are politically motivated.
The prosecution seeks to prove that before the 2016 presidential election, Trump paid, or discussed paying, two women—adult film star Stormy Daniels and McDougal—to not disclose his alleged affairs with them. He denies affairs with either woman.
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Friday.
Gillers said there were a number of factors at play when prosecutors announced on Thursday that they would not be calling McDougal, who claims that she was paid by National Enquirer magazine not to reveal that she had an affair with Trump.
He said prosecutors were also concerned about offering too much "salacious" testimony to the jury.
The court has already heard from National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, that he operated a "catch and kill" system to pay for and hide negative news about his friend, Donald Trump, during the 2016 presidential election.
He paid for McDougal's silence and offered her a National Enquirer column. This differed from the situation with Stormy Daniels, who was allegedly paid for her silence by Trump's then lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Gillers said that Stormy Daniels' strong performance in the witness stand was also a likely factor in not calling McDougal as a witness.
"I think it may be a combination of the fact that Daniels held up pretty well, McDougal wasn't paid by Trump or Cohen, not wishing to inflict another salacious witness on the jury, and perhaps some of McDougal's testimony will reflect well on Trump with whom she had a long-term affair," he said.
Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, told the court on Thursday that the Manhattan District Attorney's office had decided not to call McDougal.
"The people informed me they no longer intend to call Ms. McDougal, so we won't discuss that," Blanche told Judge Juan Merchan.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass then told the court: "We had her on the witness list... we had never affirmatively indicated we were going to call her."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more
