Advice columnist and author E. Jean Carroll has just accused President Trump of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s.
In an essay published by New York Magazine's The Cut on Friday, Carroll writes that she encountered Trump at a Bergdorf Goodman's store in New York in 1995 or 1996 and that he took her to the lingerie section, where they went into a dressing room together. Once inside, Carroll alleges that Trump pushed her against the wall twice and put his mouth against her lips, pinning her as he removed her tights.
"The next moment, still wearing correct business attire, shirt, tie, suit jacket, overcoat, he opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I'm not certain — inside me," she writes.
Carroll says that she struggled to push Trump off and finally was able to do so and run out of the dressing room after about three minutes. She writes that she didn't go to the police at the time but did tell two friends, one of whom recommended she "tell no one" because "he has 200 lawyers" and "he'll buy you." Both friends confirmed this account.
The White House on Thursday denied Caroll's accusation, saying in a statement, "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." Trump previously faced allegations of sexual assault from multiple women during the 2016 presidential election, which he denied.