An explosive report by The Hill accuses California lawyer Lisa Bloom of finding compensation for women who made or considered making sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump during the final months of last year’s presidential race.
According to documents and interviews, Bloom’s compensation efforts included:
• Offering victims’ stories to the media
• Finding a donor to pay a victim’s mortgage
• Offering one woman up to $750,000 for accusations against Trump
In October, Bloom sent a text message to a client which reads: “I have already reached out to Clinton Super PACs and they are not paying. I can get you paid for some interviews, however.” The recipient of the message was a Trump supporter who ultimately decided not to make her accusation public. She said she has no resentment about the incident because Trump stopped the flirtation when asked.
Lisa Bloom is a prominent women’s rights lawyer who has defended dozens of women in high-profile cases, including those of Bill O’Reilly and Bill Cosby.
In 2016, Bloom represented Jill Harth – a New York City makeup artist whose name became public when the media discovered the existence of a sexual harassment lawsuit she filed against Trump in 1997.
Bloom raised $2,400 for Harth through a GoFundMe account and arranged for a donor to help Harth pay off her mortgage. Harth insists the money had nothing to do with the merits of her claims against Trump, who she accuses of trying to grope her during a January 1993 meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Bloom has admitted that she engaged in conversations to secure donations for women who made accusations against Trump, but insists the money was meant to help victims find security or relocate if they felt unsafe. “Donors reached out to my firm directly to help some of the women I represented,” said Bloom. She has refused to identify any of the donors.
Messages between Bloom and her clients suggest Bloom holds a strong dislike for Trump. In one email, she told a client that her story was “further evidence of what a sick predator this man is.”
Documents reviewed by The Hill also suggest that Bloom ramped up her efforts to find Trump’s “victims” in the months leading up to the 2016 election.
After weeks of back-and-forth with one client who wasn’t sure about going public with a claim against Donald Trump, Bloom texted her: “Give us a clear sense of what you need and we will see if we can get it.”
When the client responded that she was “scared” and didn’t like the idea of “taking other people’s money,” Bloom suggested they abandon the case because they were “just about out of time.”
The client then texted back asking why there was a deadline: “What does time have to do with this? Time to bury Trump? You want my story to bury Trump for what? Personal gain? See that’s why I have trust issues!”
Bloom defended Harvey Weinstein earlier this year, but was forced to drop out of the case amid widespread criticism.
Author’s Note: If true, this story could have huge implications for a lot of politicians whose lives have been ruined by unproven claims of sexual harassment. It appears (as we have suspected) most people will make up a story if you hand them thousands of dollars.