GOP fundraiser was violent during affair, woman alleges
Unsealed Friday, her lawsuit says Elliott Broidy coerced her into getting abortion.
One of President Trump’s top fundraisers became “increasingly violent and disturbing” over the course of a lengthy extramarital affair with a former Playboy playmate that ended in a hush-money deal after he impregnated her, according to claims from the woman’s lawsuit that was unsealed Friday.
Shera Bechard, who was Playmate of the Month in November 2010, sued financier Elliott Broidy of Beverly Hills in July, saying he had ceased making payments on the $1.6 million he vowed to pay for her silence.
The unsealed portions of Bechard’s suit include intimate claims of her affair with Broidy, including allegations that he began to physically hurt her during sex toward the end of their relationship.
The two began their affair after meeting in a restaurant in 2013, Bechard’s lawsuit says. Broidy was “obsessed” with playmates and promised to financially support her. Beginning in 2016, Broidy became more possessive of Bechard, insisting that she be financially dependent on him and “commanded” no other man touch her, according to the lawsuit.
During their relationship, Bechard alleges in her suit, he became increasingly derogatory toward women and began “touching her in ways to which she did not consent.”
Bechard alleges that on the night of Sept. 24, 2017, Broidy “pushed” her into drinking excessively “so that she would be more compliant toward his physical abuse.”
The suit claims that was the night she was impregnated. Broidy insisted on not using condoms, according to the suit.
Broidy initially supported Bechard having the baby but later demanded she get an abortion, the suit alleges.
Bechard also claimed that her former attorney, Keith Davidson, deceived her about the terms of the nondisclosure agreement that he negotiated last year with Broidy’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney of Trump.
The new unredacted portions of the suit also reveal that Bechard felt threatened by Davidson into having an abortion.
When she informed him that she planned on keeping the child, he “went ballistic” and told her she had to get an abortion because “that is how these deals work,” the suit alleges.
Paul Berra, an attorney for Davidson, denied those claims.
“The idea that Mr. Davidson pressured Ms. Bechard to have an abortion is preposterous,” he said. “That was her decision alone, as was her decision to accept a $1.6-million settlement. Ms. Bechard should be offended that her attorneys, or anyone else, would suggest otherwise.”
Broidy, who has acknowledged having an extramarital affair with Bechard, has given her $400,000. But in a July 1 story in the Wall Street Journal, an attorney for Broidy said that he would not pay the remaining $1.2 million because the existence of the pact had been leaked.
The suit was originally filed under seal, though a version with redactions was made public later that month. A judge on Friday denied a motion by Broidy to seal the suit and instead ordered the full unredacted lawsuit unsealed Friday.
“We will continue to fight Ms. Bechard’s false and disgusting attempts to malign Mr. Broidy’s character and embarrass him publicly, and will seek appropriate relief from all who have violated the settlement agreement including plaintiff’s attorney,” said Jessica Stebbins Bina, an attorney for Broidy.
Broidy has long been one of the Republican Party’s top fundraisers in California.
He was founder and chairman of Markstone Capital Partners, a private equity fund. But he got caught in 2009 paying kickbacks and pleaded guilty in New York to a felony, which was reduced to a misdemeanor after he cooperated with prosecutors.
Broidy said in a statement that he would “vigorously defend myself against these false and defamatory allegations.”
“This person tried to extract money from me by making up false, malicious and disgusting allegations. I have acknowledged making the mistake of having an affair, and I entered a confidential agreement to protect my family’s privacy,” he said. “I honored my agreement until her lawyer breached it.”