Shera Bechard, the Playboy Playmate who had an affair with a former Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman, Elliott Broidy, and later entered into a hush-money agreement with him, has never met or spoken to President Donald Trump, two sources familiar with the matter tell HuffPost. This news comes after weeks of speculation that Bechard had in fact had an affair with Trump and that Broidy had acted as a middleman to settle Bechard’s claim.

The sources, who are unaffiliated with the president, asked not to be named in order to speak frankly about sensitive information. When asked by HuffPost about the speculation that Broidy acted as a conduit, both sources denied the rumors and said there had been no affair — or even any contact — between Bechard and Trump.

The speculation that Broidy, a major GOP donor, might have covered up for Trump’s affair escalated in April after Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film actress and director Stormy Daniels, suggested in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Bechard could have had the affair with someone else (many assumed he meant Trump) and that Broidy was the fall guy.