The funny thing is, Elliott Broidy, the Republican National Committee’s deputy finance chair, was already a deeply controversial figure. As Rachel noted on the show two weeks ago, Broidy is at the center of multiple, ongoing controversies, including allegations that he pitched himself, shortly before Trump’s inauguration last year, as someone who could help Russian companies get off the U.S. sanctions list for a fee.
Broidy is also, incidentally, a convicted felon.
Today, however, the Wall Street Journal published this report, which put Broidy back in the national spotlight for unwelcome reasons.
President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer negotiated a deal in late 2017 to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who said she was impregnated by a top Republican fundraiser, according to people familiar with the matter.
Michael Cohen, whose office, home and hotel room were raided by federal agents this week, arranged the payments to the woman on behalf of Elliott Broidy…. The deal, which hasn’t previously been reported, prohibits the Los Angeles woman from disclosing her alleged relationship with Mr. Broidy in exchange for $1.6 million to be paid to her over two years in quarterly installments, these people said. The first payment was due Dec. 1, according to one of the people.
While there’s not a lot of news value in Broidy’s extramarital affair, this story does offer yet another example of Michael Cohen being involved in buying someone’s silence.
What’s more, it’s another problem for the Republican National Committee: soon after the Wall Street Journal article was published, Broidy stepped down as an RNC finance chair, and RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel accepted his resignation.
All of which brings us back to our discussion from earlier this week. It was a year ago this month that the Republican National Committee announced members of the party’s finance leadership team. It was led by Steve Wynn, who was forced to resign from his RNC post earlier this year following sexual misconduct allegations. (The RNC refused to return his money.) The list also included Michael Cohen, the RNC’s national deputy finance chair, whose office and hotel room were raided by the FBI this week and who’s at the center of multiple Trump-related scandals. And the list also included Broidy, who resigned today. Don’t be surprised if the RNC’s opponents start asking the party to start returning some of the money it received from its scandal-plagued finance team.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
