APRIL 4 --Who is Keith Davidson?
Until he negotiated financial settlements for a Playboy Playmate and a porn star who separately claimed affairs with a married Donald Trump, the Beverly Hills lawyer was a 
low-profile Los Angeles attorney whose solo practice operated from a small sublet office in a Wilshire Boulevard building.
But news of the six-figure payouts Davidson arranged in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election for model Karen McDougal and adult actress Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford have stripped the 46-year-old attorney of his anonymity. Now swamped with interview requests from journalists nationwide, Davidson has watched as his professionalism has come under attack and his e-mails, retainer agreements, and billing records related to the McDougal and Clifford deals have been leaked to the press.
The payments to McDougal ($150,000) and Clifford--whose $130,000 came via Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney--have prompted the filing of complaints with the Federal Election Commission that contend the hush money amounted to improper in-kind contributions to the Trump campaign. Additionally, two Democratic representatives have asked the FBI to investigate the legality of “monetary payments to silence women alleging affairs with Mr. Trump.”
Davidson is no longer counsel for McDougal or Clifford, both of whom fired him and now complain of being dissatisfied with his representation and the restrictive nature of the settlements he negotiated on their behalf. The two women, Davidson told TSG, are the only clients he has represented in connection with legal claims against Trump.
In a blistering March 20 lawsuit[1], McDougal charged that Davidson was guilty of legal malpractice. McDougal, 47, accused Davidson of lying to her, secretly “colluding” with Cohen, and pressuring her to sign an agreement she did not understand. While “pretending to advocate