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Writer E Jean Caroll accuses Donald Trump of sexual assault

Writer E Jean Caroll accuses Donald Trump of sexual assault

Caroll alleges Trump forced himself on her in a dressing room of a store in 1995 or 1996 while he calls it "fake news".
22 Jun, 2019

A New York-based advice columnist has accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, according to a first-person account published Friday by New York magazine.

Trump denied the allegations and said, “I’ve never met this person in my life.”

The allegation against Trump by E. Jean Carroll is included in her upcoming book about the “hideous men” that the Elle magazine columnist says she has encountered throughout her life.

Carroll wrote that after what started as a friendly encounter with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman in 1995 or 1996, the real estate mogul allegedly pushed her up against a dressing room wall, unzipped his pants and forced himself on her. Carroll said that in a “colossal struggle,” she pushed him off and ran from the store.

In his statement, Trump called the accusation “fake news” and said there was no evidence.

In the statement, he also said she “trying to sell a new book – that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section.”

“No pictures? No surveillance? No video? No reports? No sales attendants around?? I would like to thank Bergdorf Goodman for confirming they have no video footage of any such incident, because it never happened,” he added.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, more than a dozen women accused Trump of sexual misconduct in earlier years. Trump has denied the allegations and said the women are lying. While those cases generally involved groping and kissing without consent, Carroll alleged forced penetration.

Carroll, now 75, wrote in her book excerpt on the magazine’s website that Trump recognized her as “that advice lady” as he arrived at Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue just as she was leaving. She said Trump invited her to help him buy a present for an unidentified female trend and she agreed.

Carroll said that after Trump suggested a purchase of lingerie or underwear, he grabbed a bodysuit and urged Carroll to try it on. After some joking around about which one of them should try it on, Trump led Carroll to a dressing room, where, she alleged, Trump pushed her against a wall, pulled down her tights and assaulted her in an episode that lasted under three minutes.

Carrol said there were no attendants in the dressing room area and she did not file a report with the New York Police Department. She said she did, however, tell two journalist friends, one of whom urged her to contact the police while the other advised her to keep quiet, citing Trump’s access to lawyers.

New York magazine said it confirmed the accounts of Carroll’s friends but it did not identify either individual by name.

Trump was caught on tape in 2005 boasting of grabbing women by their genitals and kissing them without permission. When the tape became public weeks before the November 2016 general election, Trump said he never acted in any of the ways described on the tape, and described it as just “locker-room talk.”

In March, a New York state appeals court ruled that Summer Zervos, a former contestant on Trump’s reality TV show The Apprentice who accused him of unwanted kissing and groping, can move forward with her defamation lawsuit against him.

Trump isn’t the only prominent man on the list of men who Carroll alleges have assaulted her.

She also claimed that Les Moonves, the former CEO of CBS, mauled her in the elevator of a Beverly Hills hotel after she interviewed him in 1997. Moonves was one of television’s most influential figures when he was ousted in September 2018 following allegations by women who said he subjected them to mistreatment, including forced oral sex, groping and retaliation if they resisted.

Moonves told New York magazine that he “emphatically denies” the incident occurred.

Comments

M. Saeed Jun 22, 2019 03:37pm
Trump called the accusation , as usual, “fake news” and said there was no evidence. Is she not a strong evidence herself? After 24 years, what other evidence does he need?
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Laila Jun 22, 2019 03:51pm
Sexual assault is often not recorded, taped etc. So absence of hard evidence is not the same as that it never happened. It's just difficult to prove. That's all. My advice to all females would be to come forward when it happens, don't wash and keep your clothing so a rape kit be pursued. Obviously that doesn't apply to Pakistan where our police refuses to even register FIRs. With time it's gets impossible to prove. It will come a he said, she said.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jun 22, 2019 04:12pm
Once a cheater, always a fraudster.
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iftikhar Jun 22, 2019 04:28pm
among all the foul harassers, molesters, traducers, swindlers, stranglers, and no-goods I’ve known were going to make the final accounting.
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SyedChaudhrygangadinKhan Jun 22, 2019 04:29pm
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.
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LL Jun 22, 2019 05:58pm
Donald is innocent!
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Gordon D. Walker Jun 22, 2019 06:01pm
Fake, fake news! Garbage! Trump is always the gentleman... Gordon D. Walker Canada
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ahmed Jun 22, 2019 07:51pm
One more accusation to the list would make no difference to the 'expert'. Just see his behavior before the 2016 election and he still got elected. Women voters must be on his side.
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fairplay Jun 22, 2019 08:56pm
Enough women have come forward to add credibility to their claims, against a racist, male, who lies ell the time.
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Azhar Jun 22, 2019 09:15pm
Anything Trump doesn't like or is against him is FAKE NEWS. Interesting point to note is that he is refuting the allegations more due to absence of any evidence just like our corrupt politicians who offer exactly the same justification.
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M. Saeed Jun 22, 2019 10:01pm
His usual trait. There should be some other latent qualities of the person holding world's biggest post, to be exposed.
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Thoughts Jun 23, 2019 12:20am
@fairplay NO WOMEN have come forward to corroborate claims!
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Laila Jun 23, 2019 12:39am
@ahmed Have you forgotten about Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky affair and how he sat in a live interview and denied it only to be exposed with proof shortly afterwards. Women apparently didn't mind and cited him in AGAIN for a second term.
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Laila Jun 23, 2019 12:46am
@fairplay Come on quality does not equal evidence. Weinstein has still not been put away despite the many many many women coming forward. It's dangerous if we override the judicial due process. Even the worst offender deserves a fair trial. If 100 people come forward they still have to prove their case. No exceptions. It's how the law works.
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Khalid Khan Jun 23, 2019 08:41pm
Police has duty to register any complain people want to register. What happens next is the court to decide.
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