WASHINGTON (AP) — Stacey Williams alleged this week that former President Donald Trump groped her in Trump Tower in early 1993 as disgraced hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein looked on. The former model made the accusation during a video chat of sexual assault survivors in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Williams’ allegation is the latest in a long list of accusations against Trump, including by E. Jean Carroll, who is embroiled in a legal battle with the businessman-turned-president after a jury found him liable for the sexual assault in 2023 of the president. advice columnist in 1996 and later for defaming her. The allegations against Trump date back decades and include those detailed in the “Access Hollywood” tape, a 2005 video made public weeks before 2016 Election Day in which the then-reality TV star bragged about grabbing, forcibly kissing and sexually assaulting women.
Williams said during the video call that she met and started seeing Epstein in 1992. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial in New York on a series of sex trafficking charges, sparking rampant conspiracy theories.
The former model said the two were walking down Fifth Avenue in the “late winter, early spring” of 1993 when Epstein suggested they “stop by and see Trump.”
“So we went into Trump Tower and took the elevator up. And a moment later, Trump greeted us, pulled me close and started groping me,” Williams recalls. “He put his hands over my breasts, my waist, my buttocks. And I froze. And I froze because I was so deeply confused about what was happening, because the hands were moving over me.”
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump, called the allegations “unequivocally false” and argued they were politically motivated.
Williams said Epstein and Trump “smiled at each other and continued their conversation.” At the time of the alleged incident, Trump was in his mid-40s, while Williams was in his mid-20s.
As the two left, Williams said, there was “sick anger” from Epstein, who quickly began “berating” her as soon as they hit the sidewalk.
“He kept saying, ‘Why did you let him do that? Why did you let him put his hands all over you?’ And I felt so disgusted by him,” she recalled, later adding that she “felt so humiliated and so sick and so upset.”
However, as she “absorbed what was happening,” Williams said she felt like there was some “kind of sick bet or game” between Trump and Epstein and that she was “rolled in there like a piece of meat for some challenge or twisted ‘. game.”
Williams added that she received a postcard from Trump “not long after” that Trump Tower meeting. Williams said her agent received the postcard from Trump via courier.
Williams’ team provided The Associated Press with images of the postcard. One side is a photo of Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Florida resort, and the other side is reportedly written by Trump. “Stacey, your home away from home. Love, Donald,” the postcard reads.
The organizer of the Survivors for Harris video call said this week’s meeting was not related to the Harris campaign and was an outside gathering of sexual assault survivors and advocacy groups. The Harris campaign declined to comment on the allegations on Friday. A member of Williams’ team said she has had no contact with the Harris campaign.
In an interview with CNN after the video call, Williams called the meeting with Trump “one of the strangest moments of my life.”
“I think I was probably trying to smile and be involved, like you would in a social situation. But it was an out-of-body experience,” she said. “So I don’t know if I spoke, I don’t know if I answered the questions, I don’t know.”
Although Trump has tried to distance himself from Epstein in recent years, he told New York Magazine in 2002 that he had known “Jeff” for 15 years.
“Great guy,” Trump told the magazine. “He is a lot of fun to be around. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. There’s no doubt about it: Jeffrey enjoys his social life.’
Trump has faced allegations of sexual misconduct and assault for years, all of which he has denied. Many of these accusations followed the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in 2016. Although the moment was dangerous for Trump’s campaign, he went on to win the 2016 election and the accusations against him have not slowed his political rise.
Williams told CNN that she chose not to come forward sooner due to family considerations.
“You really want to be ready, and I wasn’t,” Williams told the station. “I think there is an evolution in dealing with abuse or these types of incidents, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”
