Who Is Karen Mcdougal? Second Woman In Donald Trump Hush Money Case

Former US president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges stemming from the hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Now, a “statement of facts” has revealed that hush money payments were also made to Playboy model Karen McDougal along with a former Trump Tower doorman.

Here are five facts about Karen McDougal.

• Karen McDougal is a former Playboy model who claims that she had affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and 2007. She was paid $150,000 by American Media (AMI), the publishers of supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer. AMI bought exclusive rights of the story but never published it to cover up the Mr Trump's alleged affair, reported Reuters. 
• Ms McDougal was born in Indiana, US, and began her career by working as a fitness model for various publications in her 20s. She was named Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year in 1998. She was also the runner-up for the Playmate of the 90s behind Pamela Anderson, according to The New Yorker.
• In 1999, Karen McDougal became the first woman to feature on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine. She also did acting roles including in 2000 film Charlie's Angels and appeared in TV advertisements, according to BBC. 
• In 2021, the US Federal Commission stated that the payment by AMI to Karen McDougal was a violation of election rules. Ms McDougal later sued AMI entered into an agreement to share the story, reported Reuters. 
• According to Ms McDougal's website, she describes herself as a model, columnist, spokesmodel, and “national advocate for Breast Implant Illness (BII)”.