Att’y Bloom sought pay ffor women with misconductmisc claims
A prominent womewomen’s-rights lawyer offered to pay as much as $750,000 to women whwho wanted to go public with claims of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump before last year’s election, a bombshell report said Friday. Lisa Bloom — daudaughter of top lawyer Gloria Allred — steered money from mystery donors to at least two of TruTrump’s accusers, The Hill reIn tthe most startling case, the politicalnews site said Bloom kept offering higher sums — eventually reaching $750,000 — to one woman who had been demanding $2 million. That woman declined
But another acceptedaccepte a paymentment of less than $30,0030,000 to help pay off her mortgage, ThThe Hill reported,ported, citing Bloom’s clclients and e-mails.
Bloom acknowledged she got cash for women who accused or thought about accusing Trump in 2016, but she insisted she did nothing wrong.
“Donors reached out to my firm directly to help some of the women I represented,” said Bloom, whose clients have included Harvey Weinstein and women who accused former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and Bill Cosby.
Bloom said the donor money was never intended “to entice women to come forward against their will.”
“Nothing can be further from the truth. Some clients asked for small photo-licensing fees while others wanted more to protect their security,” she said.
She would not identify any of the donors.
Bloom told The Post that she had no contact with Hillary Clinton or her campaign.
“I can say unequivocally that we did not communicate with Hillary Clinton nor anyone from her campaign,” she said in a statement.
But The Hill said Bloom contacted Clinton super PACs for money and was turned down.
“I have already reached out to Clinton Super PACs and they are not paying. I can get you paid for some interviews however,” Bloom told the woman who ultimately rejected her offer, according to an e-mail cited by The Hill.
Bloom also tried to steer the woman to tell her story to TV shows that paid — and where Bloom would collect a commission.
When Bloom learned in early November 2016 that the woman had discussions with CBS News, she texted back, “CBS does not pay for stories.”
Bloom said a standard part of her pro-bono contracts required women to pay commissions as high as 33 percent if she sold their stories to media outlets.
One client she helped was New York City makeup artist Jill Harth, who filed a sexual-harassment suit against Trump in 1997 but withdrew it under pressure.
She asked Bloom to represent her in the fall after hearing Trump describe her allegations against him as false, and she became a vocal critic of Trump.
“I consider myself lucky to have had Lisa Bloom by my side after my old lawsuit resurfaced. She advised me with great competence and compassion,” Harth told The Hill.
Bloom later set up a payment for Harth for photos she allowed the media to use, and also raised $2,300 from a GoFundMe page.
Bloom also arranged for a donor to pay a sum below $30,000 to help Harth pay off the mortgage on her Queens apartment, The Hill reported.
Bloom accused the woman who refused her $750,000 offer of working with lawyers for Trump to leak the story.
Harth claimed that during a January 1993 meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., he shoved her against a wall and groped her.
More than a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct or assault, prompting a growing number of Democratic senators to call for him to resign, and for Congress to investigate their claims.