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Journalist and advice columnist E Jean Caroll on Friday, 21 June, accused US President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990's, adding to the long list of claims against him of sexual misconduct.
Calling the charges “fiction,” Trump, issued a statement saying, "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.
WHAT WERE THE ALLEGATIONS?
In a detailed account published as the cover story in the New York Magazine, the writer alleged her encounter with Trump, in late 1995 or early 1996, at a department store in Manhattan, turned violent.
A 52-year-old at the time of incident, Caroll had then just started an advice column for Elle magazine – 'Ask E Jean.’
She alleged that Trump had assaulted her in the dressing room of the store, after he had asked her for advice on a present for a female friend. Caroll added that he selected a “lacy see-through bodysuit of lilac gray" and asked her to model for him.
After reaching the dressing room, she alleged that Trump lunged at her and sexually assaulted her over the next three minutes.
Recounting the incident, she wrote:
“He seizes both my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time, and, as I become aware of how large he is, he holds me against the wall with his shoulder and jams his hand under my coat dress and pulls down my tights.”E Jean Caroll, Journalist
Caroll said that she did not report the incident to the police at that time, but had confided two of her friends – both of whom have corroborated their claims to the magazine.
“Receiving death threats, being driven from my home, being dismissed, being dragged through the mud, and joining the 15 women who’ve come forward with credible stories about how the man grabbed, badgered, belittled, mauled, molested, and assaulted them, only to see the man turn it around, deny, threaten, and attack them, never sounded like much fun. Also, I am a coward.”E Jean Caroll, Journalist
WHAT DID TRUMP SAY?
In his statement, Trump called the accusation "false" and said there was no evidence.
"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 said.
The White House, too, had issued a statement to the magazine, denying the allegation.
"This is a completely false and unrealistic story surfacing 25 years after allegedly taking place and was created simply to make the President look bad,” it stated.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE PREVIOUS CHARGES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AGAINST TRUMP
Her name has now been added to a long line of women who have come forward to publicly accuse Trump of sexual misbehavior and assault. In her article alone, she has listed 15 more women: Jessica Leeds, Kristin Anderson, Cathy Heller, Rachel Crooks, among others.
A number of them came forward after the 2016 release of Access Hollywood tape, wherein he was heard boasting about his ability to grab women "by the pussy."
Some of his supporters had dismissed the tape as "locker-room talk" at the time of release, but several other women have said that it was the actual representation of his behaviour.
(With inputs from AP, Vox, The Guardian, Washington Post)
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