Trump grand jury investigates SECOND ‘hush money’ payment to Playboy model

New York prosecutors who want to charge Donald Trump with “hushing money” to Stormy Daniels are also said to be investigating a $150,000 payment to a former Playboy model.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team has interviewed grand jury witnesses about cash given to Karen McDougal, who was Playboy magazine’s 1998 Playmate of the Year.

McDougal claims she had a 10-month affair with Trump that began in 2006. Trump’s office released a statement Thursday branding the development a “hoax.”

A grand jury is currently deciding whether to indict Trump after he handed over $130,000 to Daniels, a porn star, to keep quiet about their alleged affair. The money was paid ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Evidence of payments to McDougal could either be used to establish new charges or establish a “pattern of behavior” in the Daniels case, sources told the Wall Street Journal, which revealed the development.

McDougal said she met Trump at the Playboy mansion in 2006 while he was filming an episode of Celebrity Apprentice. She said she broke off the affair because she felt guilty. Trump has always denied the relationship

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team has interviewed grand jury witnesses about cash payments to Karen McDougal (pictured), who was Playboy magazine’s 1998 Playmate of the Year. She said she had an affair with Trump in 2006

A grand jury in New York is considering indicting Trump over hush money he paid to porn star Stormy Daniels over an alleged affair

A spokesman for Trump said: “It is sad to see radical Democrats and their media partners trying to revive a dead witch hunt.

“As with any other hoax targeted at President Trump, there is no crime other than interfering with elections by arming our justice system against President Trump and his supporters.”

Bragg’s office and McDougal’s attorney had not commented on the latest development Thursday afternoon.

American Media Inc, the owner of the National Enquirer, paid McDougal $150,000 in 2016 for the exclusive rights to the story about her alleged affair with Trump, which he denies. But the purchase was a “catch and kill” tactic to prevent the story from being published.

The Federal Election Commission later ruled that the company and its former President David Pecker cut the deal with Trump officials to quash the story and “prevent it from affecting the election.”

The FEC decision detailed how Pecker and AMI met with Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen to help end negative stories about Trump and his relationships.

And it concluded that AMI “coordinated” with the Trump campaign in paying McDougal $150,000.

Pecker testified before the Trump Grand Jury on Monday.

The revelation that the McDougal payment is part of the grand jury process comes as Trump’s team grows more confident that Bragg will drop his case.

Trump’s hopes of being let off the hook were boosted after the grand jury took a month-long hiatus from hearing evidence earlier this week. The former president and his team believe this is the “first step” in the process.

Bragg installed a grand jury earlier this month in hopes of indicting Trump on campaign finance violations.

The jury was assigned to consider whether Trump broke the law when his attorney Michael Cohen gave $130,000 to hush up claims she slept with Trump.

The grand jury is considering whether Trump broke the law when his attorney Michael Cohen gave porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to hush up claims she slept with Trump in 2016

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been widely criticized for his handling of the case. Many say it has no legs and is fueled by its own political hatred of Trump

Former editor of the National Enquirer David Pecker (far right) is shown trying to hide from the press as he testified leaving the Lefkowitz State Office Building Monday

But on Wednesday it was announced that the jury would not hear evidence in the case for a month.

On the few days each week that they will convene this week and next, they will hear evidence on various cases. They then enjoy a two-week “planned break.”

The break is believed to have been scheduled for a NYC public school break, Easter and Passover, but no one from the DA’s office has confirmed this.

Sources close to Trump told DailyMail.com on Wednesday afternoon that they believe the stand is the first step to a tour of Bragg’s office.

“The case is going nowhere and Bragg knows it,” said one.

In a video posted by Truth Social, Trump said it was an attempt by Democrats to interfere in the election.

“Prosecutor manipulation is the new ballot stuffing for the Democratic Party. It’s bad, it’s dangerous, it’s third world and that’s how they’re going to do it. They are a disgrace to our nation,” he said.

Bragg has made no secret of his disdain for Trump and his family, previously boasting about having sued them over 100 times in previous roles.