WASHINGTON -- Several women who came forward during the 2016 campaign to accuse Donald Trump of sexual misconduct renewed their allegations publicly Monday, hoping that recently aggressive attitudes against harassment will give their stories new life and demanding that Congress investigate the president's actions.
The women said they were frustrated that their stories did not have a greater effect on his campaign. But they also expressed hope that they would be taken more seriously after a torrent of similar accusations had toppled the careers of powerful men in news media, business and politics.
"Now it's just like, 'All right, let's try Round 2; the environment is different, let's try again,'" Samantha Holvey, a former contestant in the Miss USA pageant, said Monday morning on the NBC program Megyn Kelly Today. She repeated her accusation that Trump ogled her and other women in the pageant's hair and makeup room.
Holvey was joined by Jessica Leeds, who has said Trump groped and kissed her during a flight in the 1970s, and Rachel Crooks, who has accused Trump of repeatedly kissing her outside her office in Trump Tower. Lisa Boyne, a fourth accuser, joined the women at a news conference hosted by Brave New Films, a documentary film company.
"After the meal was cleared, all of a sudden, he was all over me, kissing and groping and groping and kissing," Leeds said. "My memory of it was, nothing was said. He didn't say, 'Oh, by the way,' and I didn't go, 'Eek' or 'Help' or whatever; it was just this silent groping going on."
The effort by the women to attract new attention to the allegations comes amid rapidly shifting attitudes in American society about the need to hold men accountable for their treatment of women, even for acts perpetrated long ago. Several high-profile television anchors have been fired from their jobs after being accused of inappropriate touching, of exposing themselves or of assaulting women in the workplace.
Allegations of sexual assault against Roy Moore, Alabama's Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat, have roiled the special election in that state, where voting is to take place today. Trump's decision to endorse Moore, despite accusations that the Senate candidate once fondled a 14-year-old girl, has led critics to highlight the accusations against the president.
On Monday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., added her name to a short list of Democratic lawmakers who have called on Trump to resign because of the accusations lodged against him.
"President Trump has committed assault, according to these women," Gillibrand said Monday afternoon on CNN. "And those are very credible allegations of misconduct and criminal activity, and he should be fully investigated and he should resign." She echoed the comments of the women, saying that Congress should investigate.
Whether the president will hold himself accountable "is something you really can't hold your breath for, so Congress should have hearings," Gillibrand said.
This month, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., called for the president to step down because of a track record of "horrific conduct" with women. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Sunday that the president "has been accused by many women of assault" and urged him to consider resigning the way Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., agreed to do after multiple allegations of inappropriate behavior. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told Vice News on Sunday that the accusations by the women against Trump were "far more damning."
White House officials on Monday repeated the president's response that the accusations of sexual misconduct were false and that the women were lying.
"The president has directly responded and said that these allegations are false, and that's what I'm doing in relaying that information to you," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, told reporters. Asked whether Congress should investigate, Sanders noted that voters had made a judgment about the allegations.
"This took place long before he was elected to be president," Sanders said. "And the people of this country, at a decisive election, supported President Trump, and we feel like these allegations have been answered through that process."
The women accusing the president originally came forward, along with several others, in October 2016 after reports emerged of Trump talking crudely on an Access Hollywood recording. Trump admitted to making the comments on the tape and apologized for them, but he denied the allegations of misconduct and harassment by the other women.
A Section on 12/12/2017