About that Playboy model's alleged affair with Donald Trump . . .

. . . well, look what's just turned up!

The centerpiece of a New Yorker story on Karen McDougal, who says she had an affair with Donald Trump, is scribbled notes kept by the former Playboy playmate.

These notes, obtained by journalist Ronan Farrow, are presented as her personal reflections on the relationship –“later memorialized in an eight-page, handwritten document provided to the New Yorker.”

Readers could easily get the impression, as many journalists have, that McDougal wrote these notes during what she describes as a consensual relationship that began in 2006. But that is not the case.

. . .

The McDougal passages were written on a notebook marketed by fashion designer Izak Zenou, whose name appears at the bottom of one of the pages. He got into the business of creating office supplies in 2016, and the notebook was not available for sale on Amazon until March 2016.

The timing is significant.

Farrow writes that “the interactions that McDougal outlines in the document share striking similarities with the stories of other women who claim to have had sexual relationships with Trump, or who have accused him of propositioning them for sex or sexually harassing them.”

But in writing the notes in 2016 or 2017, the onetime Playmate of the Year did not foreshadow, by a decade, similar accusations by other women.

. . .

Farrow writes that he obtained the document from John Crawford, a friend of McDougal, and “she expressed surprise” that he had it but confirmed that the notes were in her handwriting.

Yet later in the piece, it became apparent that they are more than just friends.

Crawford told Farrow “that selling McDougal’s story was his idea, and that he first raised it when she was living with him, in 2016.” As they watched the presidential candidate on television, Crawford said he told McDougal that her past relationship with Trump “could be worth something about now.”

In an interview with CNN, Farrow called McDougal’s notes “written testimony” and said they exist because “in the course of selling the story, a friend of hers who coaxed her into selling it said sit down and write every detail.”

. . .

The reality is that at least a decade had passed before Karen McDougal wrote those notes, after her friend and roommate urged her to peddle her story for money.

There's more at the link.

Would any court in the land regard this sort of "evidence" as grounds for even suspicion, let alone convicting someone of guilt?  Like hell they would!  It's fatally flawed from the start, particularly because it's implied that the notes were contemporaneous with the alleged "affair".  That would almost certainly lead to the notes being ruled inadmissible as evidence in court.

I smell falsehood, deceit and lies . . . and they're not coming from the direction of the White House.

I'm not saying Ronan Farrow is a liar, but I certainly think he's been misled at best.  His journalistic integrity is now at stake.  I hope and trust he'll leave no stone unturned to obtain corroborating evidence for his allegations.  If he can't, he should publicly withdraw them, and apologize to President Trump.  As for Ms. McDougal . . . 'nuff said.




Peter