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GOP financier quits over $1.6m payout via Trump lawyer

Elliott Broidy, former deputy national finance chairman of Republican National Committee (File photo)

A top GOP fundraiser and prominent supporter of President Donald Trump, Elliott Broidy, has resigned after a report that the president's personal attorney arranged a $1.6 million payment to a former Playboy model who claimed Broidy had impregnated her.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer, arranged the payments to the woman on behalf of Broidy in late 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Following the report, Broidy stepped down from his post as deputy national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), the organization in charge of fundraising and developing the Republican Party platform.

The Los Angeles-based investor, who helped raise millions of dollars for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, issued a statement, admitting that he “had a consensual relationship” with the woman.

“It is unfortunate that this personal matter between two consenting adults is the subject of national discussion just because of Michael Cohen’s involvement,” Broidy said.

"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."

Broidy would be at least the second senior committee figure this year to resign after former RNC finance chairman Steve Wynn stepped down in January amid employees' accusations of sexual misconduct.

Cohen himself has been under the spotlight over a $130,000 payment he made to a porn-star aimed at preventing her from publicly discussing an affair she claims to have had with Trump.

On Monday, his home and office were raided by FBI agents who then seized documents, which are about a host of issues, including the 2016 payment Cohen made to Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had sex with Trump in 2006 and was paid money shortly before the 2016 election to say nothing about the affair.


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