Ex-Playboy Model Sues Fox Over Tucker Carlson’s Trump Defense

(Bloomberg) -- A woman who claims she had sex with Donald Trump before he became president is suing Fox News for defamation over an assertion by one its hosts that she tried to extort money from Trump.

Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, said in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Manhattan state court that Tucker Carlson defamed her on his Dec. 10, 2018, show when he said: “Two women approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family if he doesn't give them money. Now that sounds like a classic case of extortion.”

Though Carlson did not mention McDougal by name, her picture was flashed on the screen while he spoke, the complaint says.

McDougal is seeking unspecified damages. Later on Thursday, lawyers for Fox moved the case to Manhattan federal court. Carlson isn't named as a defendant.

“Fox News will vigorously defend Tucker Carlson against these meritless claims,” the network said in a statement.

Carlson's comments came ahead of the Dec. 12, 2018, sentencing of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen on campaign finance and other federal charges related to his coordination of hush-money payments to McDougal and adult film star Stormy Daniels, who also claims she had sex with Trump before he became president. Cohen, who pleaded guilty, is currently serving a three-year sentence.

Trump has denied having sex with either woman. Cohen said in court that he paid $130,000 to Clifford on Trump's behalf and also helped arrange a $150,000 payment to McDougal from National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc., whose chairman David Pecker is a friend of Trump's.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has subpoenaed tax filings and other financial documents from Trump's accountants, Mazars USA LLP, as part of an investigation into the payments to McDougal and Daniels. Vance's investigation is focused on determining whether business records were falsified to hide the nature of the payments, which were made before the 2016 presidential election.

The federal appeals court in Manhattan last month declined Trump's request to block the subpoena. The president is hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case and rule that he can keep the information private. It's one of three subpoena cases heading to the Supreme Court after lower courts ruled against Trump.

The case is McDougal v. Fox News Network LLC, 19-cv-11161, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Anthony Lin

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