Who is Karen McDougal, the second woman paid hush money in Donald Trump’s criminal case?

On her website, she describes herself as a model, columnist, advocate and spokeswoman

Former US president Donald Trump and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. AFP

Read the latest news on Donald Trump's arraignment

Former US president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records this week.

The indictment, which alleges that Mr Trump and others breached election laws by suppressing the publication of negative information about him before the 2016 US election, contains details about payoffs to three people.

One of them is former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said she had an extramarital affair with Mr Trump years earlier.

Who is Karen McDougal?

Ms McDougal, a 52-year-old Republican supporter, is a former Playboy model from Indiana. She began modelling in swimwear competitions during her twenties and in 1998 won Playboy’s Playmate of the Year.

She describes herself on her website as a model, columnist, advocate and spokeswoman.

In 2001, readers of the magazine voted her runner up "Playmate of the 90s", after Pamela Anderson.

She was also the first woman to appear on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine in 1999. As an actress she appeared in a few TV advertisements and minor acting roles.

Over the years, she has also published articles on health, fitness and beauty.

What is her involvement in Donald Trump’s criminal case?

The criminal charges brought against former president Donald Trump in a New York court have focused largely on payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his presidential campaign.

However, this is not the only woman whose case was mentioned in the courtroom.

Similar to Ms Daniels’s claims, Ms McDougal says she had an extramarital affair with Mr Trump between 2006 and 2007 and was later paid for her silence.

Court documents indicate that a payment was made on behalf of Mr Trump to a second woman, believed to be Ms Daniels.

In 2018, the New Yorker magazine reported that Ms McDougal said she met Mr Trump at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 2006, while he was married.

Shortly after they started a 10-month affair that ended when Ms McDougal broke it off. The affair was repeatedly denied by Mr Trump.

Later, during the run up to the presidential elections in 2016, Ms McDougal was paid $150,000 to talk about the affair exclusively to a tabloid newspaper, the National Enquirer.

The article was never published and Ms McDougal never went public with her story.

This practice is known as "catch and kill", and the National Enquirer did this in an attempt to suppress any bad press against the presidential candidate.

In 2021, the Federal Election Commission found that the money paid to Ms McDougal amounted to an illegal campaign contribution and fined the National Enquirer $187,500.

On Tuesday, prosecutors said in a charging document that Mr Trump did not want the woman's story to become public "because he was concerned about the effect it could have on his candidacy".