Trump, the housekeeper, and the secret love-child
CNN reports: Trump's ex-doorman in NY is released from a contract saying he received $30,000 in exchange for signing over the rights, “in perpetuity,” to a rumor claiming that the US president had fathered a child with an employee at Trump World Tower. The contract subjected the doorman to a $1 million penalty if he disclosed either the rumor or the terms of the deal to anyone.
CNN reported Saturday that Dino Sajudin, a former Trump World Tower doorman alleges that US President Donald Trump had an affair with an ex-housekeeper, and as a result, fathered a child.
Sajudin is now able to talk about the rumor since he was released from his contract with AMI—a company owned by David Pecker, and the parent company of the National Enquirer—that had prohibited him from discussing the matter with anyone.
CNN has published a copy of the contract which appears to have been signed on Nov. 15, 2015. The contract does not mention any details about the story itself expect for stating that "source shall provide AMI with information regarding Donald Trump's illegitimate child."The contract also states that "AMI will not owe Source any compensation if AMI does not publish the Exclusive."
According to the initial agreement between the parties, the ex-doorman would receive a sum of $30,000 "payable upon publication as set forth below." However, the third page of the contract published by CNN states that the parties signed an amendment that states that Sajudin would be paid $30,000 within five days of receiving the amendment. It says the contract's "exclusivity period is extended in perpetuity and shall not expire."
The amendment also subjects Sajudin to a $1 million penalty if he disclosed either the rumor or the terms of the deal to anyone.
"He's a blue-collar worker and a million dollars would have ruined him for life," his lawyer told CNN.
According to Sajudin, he was instructed not to criticize President Trump's former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President Trump, which produced a child."
The story of the ex-doorman was exposed by The Associated Press in April.
Michael Cohen, the longtime Trump attorney, acknowledged that he had discussed Sajudin’s story with National Enquirer magazine when the tabloid was working on it.
Cohen, 51, who once said he’d take a bullet for Trump, pleaded guilty to eight felony counts, including tax evasion last week. He could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing Dec. 12. Cohen initially denied making the payments to McDougal and Daniels ahead of the 2016 elections to buy their silence about their alleged 2006 affairs with Trump. But in his plea deal, Cohen explicitly says he did so at Trump’s direction with the intention of influencing the 2016 election. The payments could be regarded as illegal campaign expenditure.
Asked about the payment last summer, Dylan Howard, the Enquirer’s top editor and an AMI executive, said he made the payment to secure the former Trump doorman’s exclusive cooperation because the tip, if true, would have sold “hundreds of thousands” of magazines. Ultimately, he said the information “lacked any credibility,” so he spiked the story on those merits.
“Unfortunately ... Dino Sajudin is one fish that swam away,” Howard told RadarOnline on Wednesday.
But four longtime Enquirer staffers directly familiar with the episode challenged Howard’s version of events. They said they were ordered by top editors to stop pursuing the story before completing potentially promising reporting threads.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he discovered payments were made only after the fact, and in any case, the money was paid out of his pocket and not out of campaign funds.
In tapes released by CNN last month, Trump is heard discussing payments to McDougal. He asks Cohen if he paid her in cash, and Cohen is heard replying "no".
In addition, Cohen is heard telling Trump he needs to "open up a company" to pay for "the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David"—an apparent reference to David Pecker, chairman of AMI, which in August 2016 paid McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her account of the affair and then never published a word of it.
Earlier this week, federal prosecutors gave immunity to Packer, a longtime friend of Trump, who told the prosecution that Trump knew about the payments Cohen made to women he allegedly had an affair with.
According to a CNN's source, Pecker has received immunity in the Cohen case for providing information to the prosecution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
