Stacey Williams alleged this week that former President Donald Trump groped her at Trump Tower in early 1993 as disgraced hedge fund supervisor Jeffrey Epstein watched. The previous mannequin made the allegation throughout a video chat of sexual violence survivors supporting Vice President Kamala Harris ‘ marketing campaign.
Williams’ allegation is the most recent in a prolonged listing of accusations made towards Trump, together with by E. Jean Carroll, who has been locked in a authorized battle with the businessman-turned-president after a jury discovered him liable in 2023 for sexually assaulting the recommendation columnist in 1996 and later for defaming her. The allegations towards Trump return a long time and embody these described within the “Access Hollywood” tape, a 2005 video made public weeks earlier than Election Day 2016 that confirmed the then-reality tv star bragging about grabbing, forcibly kissing and sexually assaulting girls.
Williams mentioned on the video name that she met and started seeing Epstein in 1992. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 whereas awaiting trial in New York for a sequence of intercourse trafficking prices, sparking rampant conspiracy theories.
The previous mannequin mentioned the 2 have been strolling down Fifth Avenue in “late winter, early spring” of 1993 when Epstein urged they “stop by and see Trump.”
“So we went into Trump Tower and went up the elevator. And moments later, Trump was greeting us and he pulled me into him and started groping me,” Williams recalled. “He put his hands all over my breasts, my waist, my butt. And I froze. And I froze because I was so deeply confused about what was happening because the hands were moving all over me.”
Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokeswoman, known as the allegations “unequivocally false” and argued they have been politically motivated.
Williams mentioned Epstein and Trump “were, like, smiling at one another and continuing on in their conversation.” On the time of the alleged incident, Trump was in his mid-40s, whereas Williams was in her mid-20s.
When the 2 left, Williams mentioned, there was “seething rage” by Epstein, who swiftly started “berating” her as soon as they bought to the sidewalk.
“He kept saying, ’Why did you let him do that? Why did you let him put his hands all over you?’ And he made me feel so disgusting,” she recalled, including later that she “felt so humiliated and so sick to my stomach and was so upset.”
As she “absorbed what happened,” nonetheless, Williams mentioned she felt like there was some “sort of sick bet or game” between Trump and Epstein and that she was “rolled in there like a piece of meat for some kind of challenge or twisted game.”
Williams added that “not long after” that assembly in Trump Tower she obtained a postcard from Trump. Williams mentioned her agent obtained the postcard, through courier, from Trump.
Williams’ workforce offered The Related Press with photographs of the postcard. One aspect is a photograph of Palm Seashore and Mar-a-Lago, the previous president’s resort in Florida, and the opposite aspect is writing allegedly from Trump. “Stacey, your home away from home. Love, Donald,” reads the postcard.
The organizer of the Survivors for Harris video name mentioned this week’s assembly was not affiliated with the Harris marketing campaign and was an outdoor gathering of sexual violence survivors and advocate organizations. The Harris marketing campaign declined Friday to touch upon the allegations. A member of Williams’ workforce mentioned she has had no contact with the Harris marketing campaign.
In an interview with CNN after the video name, Williams known as the encounter with Trump “one of the strangest moments of my life.”
“I think I probably was trying to smile and go through the motions of being engaged the way you would in a social situation. But it was an out-of-body experience,” she mentioned. “So, I don’t know if I spoke, I don’t know if I answered questions, I don’t know.”
Though Trump has sought to distance himself from Epstein lately, he advised New York Journal in 2002 that he had recognized “Jeff” for 15 years.
“Terrific guy,” Trump advised the journal. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
Trump has confronted allegations of sexual misconduct and assault for years, all of which he has denied. Many of those allegations adopted the publishing of the “Access Hollywood” tape in 2016. Whereas the second was perilous for Trump’s marketing campaign, he went on to win the 2016 election and the allegations towards him haven’t slowed his political rise.
Williams advised CNN that she selected to not come ahead earlier as a consequence of household concerns.
“You want to be really, really ready, and I wasn’t,” Williams advised the community. “I think there’s an evolution to contending with your abuse, or these types of incidents, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”
