Jill Harth, the makeup artist who had filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Republican party presidential nominee Donald Trump in 1997, has spoke out for the first time about the incident.
Speaking to The Guardian, Harth has revealed telling details about the incident and what she has been through since the lawsuit, filed almost 20 years ago, resurfaced.
According to the lawsuit, Donald Trump had cornered her and groped her in his daughter’s bedroom. In the interview she maintains her stance.
As Trump was speaking at the GOP convention in Cleveland, Harth explained why she decided to speak out, after all these years.
It was in May that Donald Trump publicly dismissed her sexual assault allegations, terming them ‘meritless,’ subsequently branding her as a liar.
Harth says, that’s what got her to speak out.
Here are a few excerpts from the interview.
“He Pushed Me up Against the Wall,” Harth Recalls
At a 1993 after-party of a beauty pageant, “Trump wanted to see the quality of the girls he was sponsoring, Harth recalled – when he pulled her aside into one of the children’s bedrooms,” reports The Guardian.
“He pushed me up against the wall, and had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress again,” Harth recalled, “and I had to physically say: ‘What are you doing? Stop it.’ It was a shocking thing to have him do this because he knew I was with George, he knew they were in the next room. And how could he be doing this when I’m there for business?”
Speaking About it “Was Stressful, it Gave Me Anxiety”
As Trump received his official nomination as the Republican candidate in Cleveland, Harth told The Guardian that she had been reluctant to talk after the sexual assault allegations resurfaced.
Because honestly, it was painful for me to have to do it again. It was stressful, it gave me anxiety, it definitely wounded my marriage – it wasn’t the death knell, but it wounded it, it was stressful having to handle this.
It wasn’t until she saw Trump dismiss media reports referencing her case as “meritless”, that she decided to break her silence.
“After the New York Times ran a story in May this year about Trump’s history with women, including an account of Harth’s story, Trump’s campaign even reached out to her to pressure her to take back her account,” The Guardian reported.
“They Tried to Get Me to Say it Never Happened”
Harth then goes on to recount how Trump’s office asked her to go back on her claims and say that the incident never happened.
“His office – and I have it on my voicemails that he called, that they called – they asked me to recant everything when the New York Times article came out. They were trying to get me to say it never happened and I made it up. And I said I’m not doing that,” she recalled. Trump’s office denied this.”
She was also furious after Trump’s daughter Ivanka gave an interview to the New York Times article saying her dad is “not a groper”.
I understand that the girl wanted to defend her dad, being it’s her dad. But what did she know? She was 10 years old! She was 10 years old at the time. She didn’t know what her father was about, what he was doing, how he was acting.
She concluded her interview by saying that the entire fiasco has been a nightmare for her.
“Nobody was defending me, that’s why I’m talking,” Harth said. “You can believe it or not, but I went through hell and I still have to relive this again. And I just, I’m horrified that I have to think about this again.”
Harth’s allegations aren’t the only ones that have resurfaced against Trump. He has a child rape case against him, which he calls “politically motivated.” He was also accused of marital rape by his former wife Ivana Trump.
Source: The Guardian
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