A woman has accused Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of forcibly groping her at Trump Tower in 1993. The allegation comes just over one week out from the US election.
Stacey Williams, 56, is the 27th woman to accuse the former president of sexual misconduct.
The former model made her allegations public on a Zoom call last week organised by Survivors for Harris, a group of sexual assault victim-survivors campaigning for Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Williams told the Zoom that she attended a Christmas party at Trump Tower in New York City in 1992, where it was clear that the late convicted sexual abuser Jeffery Epstein and Donald Trump were “really good friends”. After that evening, Williams became romantically involved with Epstein.
The following year, Williams said she and Epstein visited Donald Trump at Trump Tower. According to Williams, it was here that Trump pulled her toward him before groping her breasts, waist and buttocks.
Williams, frozen in the moment, was “deeply confused” by what happened, but noted that Trump and Epstein both smiled at each other.
In a statement, Karolina Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary for his campaign, said the accusations against Trump are “unequivocally false”.
“It’s obvious this fake story was contrived by the Harris campaign,” the statement reads.
Dozens of women have accused the former US president of sexual harassment, sexual assault and/or rape since the 1970s.
The first wave of accusations came after the publication of the Access Hollywood tapes in 2016, just one month before the presidential election.
The tapes revealed an extremely disturbing conversation between Trump and the Access Hollywood television host, Billy Bush, in 2005, describing Trump’s disrespectful attitude and behaviour towards women.
“I just start kissing them (women),” Trump said in the tapes. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.
“And when you’re a star. They let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the pussy. You can do anything.”
The tapes sparked significant backlash at the time, with many high profile Republicans withdrawing their support for Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Despite the backlash, Trump still won the election.
Following the tapes, more and more women came out to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct.
One of the most high profile accusations came from E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault in the mid 1990s.
Whilst Trump has always denied the allegations, Carroll, who sued him for defamation over his denial, was awarded more than $83 million USD ($120.2 million AUD) in damages for continued defamatory statements he has made against her.
Here is the full list of Trump’s 27 accusers and the date of the alleged assault.
- Jessica Leeds, late 1970s
- Ivana Trump, former wife of DT, 1990
- Kristin Anderson, former model, early 1990s
- Stacey Williams, former model 1993
- Jill Harth, former business associate, 1997
- Lisa Boyne, 1996
- E. Jean Carroll, writer, 1996
- Mariah Billado and Victoria Hughes, former Miss USA Contestants, 1997
- Temple Taggart, former Miss Utah, 1997
- Cathy Heller, 1997
- Amy Dorris, actress, 1997
- Karena Virginia, author, 1998
- Bridget Sullivan, former Miss New Hampshire, 2000
- Tasha Dixon, former Miss Arizona, 2001
- Karen Johnson, former dancer, early 2000s
- Melinda McGillivray, 2003
- Natasha Stoynoff, former People reporter, 2005
- Juliet Huddy, former Fox News anchor, 2005
- Jennifer Murphy, former The Apprentice contestant, 2005
- Rachel Crooks, 2005
- Samantha Holvey, former Miss North Carolina, 2006
- Ninni Laaksonen, former Miss Finland, 2006
- Jessica Drake, 2006
- Summer Zervos, former The Apprentice contestant, 2007
- Cassandra Searlesm former Miss Washington, 2013
- Alva Johnson, former Trump campaign staffer, 2016