The former mistress of former Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Elliott Broidy, who signed a $1.6 million agreement that included a confidentiality clause to keep their affair quiet, is suing Broidy for failing to pay the third installment of that money.
Broidy was paying former Playboy Playmate Shera Bechard in $200,000 installments for an unspecified personal injury in a deal that included a nondisclosure agreement.
Broidy’s attorney recently argued their agreement was made null and void after Broidy’s affair with Bechard was leaked to the press. The lawsuit against him mentions a Wall Street Journal article that quotes Broidy’s lawyer Chris Clark as saying, “Elliott specifically was paying for confidentiality that would shield his family from the embarrassing mistake he made. We can prove there was an intentional breach that renders the contract null and void.”
Broidy isn’t the only one being sued by Bechard.
Bechard’s lawyers with the Stris & Maher law firm had the complaint sealed for 20 days but highlighted reporting from The Wall Street Journal revealing the breach may have come from two lawyers: Bechard’s former lawyer Keith Davidson and Stormy Daniel’s current lawyer Michael Avenatti.
Avenatti and Davidson were in contact around the time of the breach but on another case: porn star Daniels’ lawsuit against President Donald Trump. Davidson was Daniels’ former attorney.
Avenatti lashed out on Twitter over being sued in the case, saying in part: “I have no idea why I’d be named in this lawsuit unless it’s a ploy by Ms. Bechard to get publicity… Her beef if any is with her own attorney Keith Davidson and Mr. Broidy (or whomever impregnated her).”
Broidy stepped down from his position at the RNC after admitting to the affair with Bechard. He also revealed in his statement that Bechard had been pregnant and eventually decided to terminate her pregnancy, though he never said who the father might have been.
Avenatti’s outrage elicited this response from Bechard’s lawyer Peter Stris: “You know why you are included in this complaint. You understood that your previous actions might lead to this when you called our firm and begged us not to sue you several days ago.”
The full complaint by Bechard is set to be unsealed in 20 days.
“Elliott followed the terms of the agreement and it’s disappointing others did not,” Broidy’s spokesperson Eric Rose told CNN.
Correction: Earlier versions of this story misspelled the name of Bechard's lawyers' firm. It is Stris & Maher.