UPDATED 10/27/16 3:10 p.m. ET
During the second presidential debate on Sunday evening, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump told the moderators and the American public he has never assaulted women the way he described in a 2005 tape released last Friday. In the now infamous video, Trump bragged to former Today show host Billy Bush that he can kiss women and grab their genitals because he's famous. Though he denied kissing or groping women without their consent at the debate, many women have stepped forward this week to say he did just that.
He claimed that, as a 17-year-old, he “procured” boys, some of whom he said may have been underage, for sex parties with high-ranking British politicians. When Gilberthorpe came forward in 2014, most of the officials he accused of soliciting boys were already dead, and a former minister dismissed his claims, saying that Gilberthorpe had invented the story after his own political career failed to take off, according to the Daily Mail.
Cathy Heller
Heller told The Guardian that she was eating brunch at Trump's Mar-A-Lago property for Mother's Day in 1997 when Trump grabbed her and tried to kiss her. When she tried to get away from his grasp, he reportedly said “oh, come on,” before kissing her on the mouth against her will. Trump “took my hand, and grabbed me, and went for the lips,” Heller recalled. “And then he just walked away.” She added that she came forward with her story because she doesn't want people to think he's "just talk."
Kristin Anderson
Anderson, who in the early 1990's was in her twenties and trying to break into the modeling business, told the Washington Post's Karen Tumulty that Trump--who she did not know and had never met--slid his hand up her miniskirt and touched her vagina while she was deep in conversation with friends. She says she was “very grossed out and weirded out,” but that she thought she should move on because "Donald is gross. We all know he's gross."
It's worth noting that Anderson did not contact the Post—a reporter heard about her story and reached out to her; Tumulty says she spent "several days trying to decide whether to go public." She decided she had been silent for too long.
"I’ve always kept quiet. And why should I keep quiet? Actually, all of the women should speak up, and if you’re touched inappropriately, tell somebody and speak up about it. Actually go to the authorities and press some charges. It’s not okay,” Anderson said.
Jessica Leeds
Jessica Leeds, who is now 74-years-old, told the New York Times Wednesday that Trump groped her breasts and tried to put his hands up her skirt on an airplane more than 30 years ago. Leeds told the Times the two were seated next to her and that he began to assault her 45 minutes after takeoff. "He was like an octopus. His hands were everywhere," Leeds said. She told the New York Times she fled to the back of the plane to escape Trump.
On Friday the Trump campaign put forth a witness, Anthony Gilberthorpe, who said Leeds' allegations are false. "I have only met this accuser once and frankly cannot imagine why she is seeking to make out that Trump made sexual advances on her. Not only did he not do so (and I was present at all times) but it was she that was the one being flirtatious," Gilberthorpe said in a note provided to The New York Post by the Trump campaign. Leeds was reportedly trying to get Trump's attention and wanted to marry Trump, Gilberthorpe said.
Gilberthorpe has quite a colorful past. According to Talking Points Memo, two years ago he went public with some shocking accusations:
Rachel Crooks
Rachel Crooks also spoke with the New York Times Wednesday and said Trump sexually assaulted her when she was 22 in 2005, the same year that Trump was filmed saying he can grab women "by the p***y" because he's famous.
Crooks told the Times she encountered Trump outside of an elevator in Trump Tower, where she was working at the time, in 2005. After introducing herself and shaking Trump's hand, Crooks said he began kissing her on the cheeks, then kissed her on the mouth. "I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that," Crooks said, calling his behavior "so inappropriate."
Natasha Stoynoff
Donald Trump statement on the latest accuser pic.twitter.com/BvAAzpPoDn
A writer for People magazine, Natsha Stoynoff wrote for People Wednesday that Trump assaulted her while she was assigned to the "Trump beat" in the early 2000's. Stoynoff said she went to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate to interview Donald Trump and his wife Melania regarding their one-year wedding anniversary when the assault occurred.
"When we took a break for the then-very-pregnant Melania to go upstairs and change wardrobe for more photos, Donald wanted to show me around the mansion," Stoynoff wrote. "We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat," Stoynoff continued, writing further that Trump's butler came into the room, allowing her to "unpin" herself.
Mindy McGillivray
36-year-old Mindy McGillivray told the Palm Beach Post Wednesday that Trump groped her at his Mar-a-Lago estate in January of 2003. McGillivray was 23 and assisting a photographer friend who was shooting a Ray Charles concert at the estate when she told the Post that Trump groped her.
"All of a sudden I felt a grab, a little nudge... I turn around and there’s Donald," McGillivray said. "He sort of looked away quickly. I quickly turned back, facing Ray Charles, and I’m stunned."
Since coming forth with the allegations, McGillivray has said she's planning to leave the U.S. "We feel the backlash of the Trump supporters. It scares us. It intimidates us. We are in fear of our lives,’" McGillivray told the Palm Beach Post, adding that she's seen people slowing down while driving past her house.
Temple Taggart McDowell
Temple Taggart McDowell was 21 when she competed as Miss Utah in the 1997 Miss USA pageant, where she says Trump hugged her then kissed her on the mouth. Taggart McDowell didn't call the incident an assault but teared up when she spoke with NBC about how uncomfortable it made her on Wednesday.
Summer Zervos
Zervos, a former Apprentice contestant, alleged Friday that she was kissed and groped by Trump at the Beverly Hills hotel in 2007. Attorney Gloria Allred told reporters that two witnesses exist who can back up Zervos' story, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "I want to be able to sleep when I'm 70 at night," Zervos said when asked about her decision to come forward. Zervos, who appeared on the fifth season of Apprentice, added that she feels the alleged assault has hindered her career.
Trump released a statement on the accusations from Zervos, claiming he never met her at a hotel. You can read his full statement below.
The Trump campaign also tracked down Zervos' cousin, for some reason, to comment on the allegations:
In addition to the spate of sexual assault allegations to be raised this week are the testimony of myriad former beauty pageant contestants who say that Trump barged in on their dressing rooms when they were in various states of undress, some of them were teenagers at the time. The Guardian reported Thursday that two former Miss Teen USA contestants told them, "Mr Trump just barged right in [to their dressing room], didn’t say anything, stood there and stared at us."
Further, CBS reported on a video from 1992 in which Trump appears to sexualize a 10-year-old girl during a holiday show. In the video, Trump asks the young girl if she's going up the escalator, then says, "I am going to be dating her in 10 years. Can you believe it?"
Trump lashed out against the accusations on Thursday, threatening to sue the New York Times for running the story about Leeds and Crooks. Trump and spokespeople for his campaign have also been denying claims by the other women who have come forward this week.
.@realDonaldTrump campaign response to latest accusation from woman who says Trump touched her inappropriately without her consent pic.twitter.com/02V467L6rh
Trump also denied the claims saying they were "fabricated, pure fiction, and outright lies," in a speech he made in West Palm Beach on Thursday.
Karena Virginia
In a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred on Thursday, the day after the final presidential debate, Karena Virginia read a statement to the press about an incident in 1998 when she says Trump groped her without permission.
Allred says that Virginia saw Trump while waiting for her car at the US Open at the age of 27, when she saw Trump and heard him say, "Hey look at this one, we haven't seen her before. Look at those legs!'" Virginia said it was "As though I was an object rather than a person." Virginia then stated that Trump grabbed her arm and groped her breast and then said to her, "Don't you know how I am?"
Trump's response to the accusation can be read below.
Jessica Drake
On Saturday, porn star Jessica Drake officially became the 11th woman to accuse Donald Trump of sexual assault. With Gloria Allred by her side, MSNBC captured Drake telling a group of reporters that she met Trump during a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Drake was at a booth for the adult film company Wicked Pictures when Trump began flirting with her. He eventually asked her for her number, which she gave him. Later that evening, Trump invited Drake to his room, and again she obliged, arriving with two other women.
Drake said:
Upon returning to her room, Drake received a call from a man who spoke on Trump’s behalf, asking her to return to his suite. After Drake refused the offer, Trump called her personally, and invited her to dinner, and then a party. Again she declined, at which point he asked, “What do you want? How much?” Drake told Trump that she had to return to L.A. for work, before receiving yet another call, in which she was offered $10,000 and use of Trump’s private jet if she accepted his invitation.
Drake added that she chose to speak out in support of the other women who have told their stories. “Collectively, his words and his actions are a huge testament to his character, that of uncontrollable entitlement, misogyny and a sexual assault apologist,” she said of Trump, adding that she’s in no way looking for fame or monetary compensation, as Trump has accused the women who have come forward of doing.
The Trump campaign issued a statement, which you can read below:
Ninni Laaksonen
Former Miss Finland in 2006, Ninni Laaksonen, came forward on Thursday alleging that Donald Trump grabbed her without consent just before the two of them appeared together on The Late Show with David Letterman, also in 2006.
Business Insider reports that Laaksonen, now 30-years-old, told Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that Trump grabbed her backside. "Before the show we were photographed outside the building," Laaksonen said. "Trump stood next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt. He really grabbed my butt. I don't think anybody saw it but I flinched and thought, 'What is happening?'" Laaksonen said.
