President Donald Trump has insisted that hasn't even met the women accusing him of sexual assault or harassment, even though pictures and videos have emerged showing him interacting with some of those women.
“Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia — so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don't know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!” Mr Trump tweeted Tuesday.
Mr Trump has previously categorically denied any accusations of wrong doing in general. The White House said Tuesday that Mr Trump was only referring in his tweet to three women who held a Monday press conference where they reiterated their accusations, and called on Congress to investigate the matter.
Soon after Mr Trump's tweet, People magazine published a photo of Mr Trump standing with Natasha Stoynoff, a former correspondent for the magazine who has claimed that Mr Trump forcibly kissed her while she was visiting his Mar-a-Lago estate on assignment in 2005 to write a profile of the former businessman. The magazine said that the photo was taken on the same day as the alleged forced kissing.
Ms Stoynoff and the other two women mentioned in this article with photos or video with Mr Trump were not among those at the Monday press conference.
Soon after People published their record, a photo of another Trump accuser surfaced, this one showing Mr Trump with Jill Harth. Ms Hart, who did business with Mr Trump and dated him for a time, has accused Mr Trump of groping her in the early 1990s. Ms Harth reportedly filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Mr Trump in 1997, but later settled.
In addition to those two photos, video of Mr Trump and another accuser, Summer Zervos, has been getting some attention. Ms Zervos was once a contestant on NBC’ “The Apprentice”, where Mr Trump was a host for many seasons. A video shows the two together sitting across a boardroom table from each other.
“I’m being truthful, and I’ll always be truthful,” Ms Zervos says in the video when asked by Mr Trump why she was interrupting him just as he was about to rip into another contestant.
“How stupid is that?” Mr Trump shoots back sarcastically.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during her afternoon briefing that Mr Trump’s tweet was only directed at three women who held a press conference the previous day detailing their accusations against the President. Those women were Rachel Crooks, Samantha Holvey, and Jessica Leeds.
Those women urged Congress to investigate claims made by them and others.
A group of at least 59 women on the Democratic Women’s Working Group have signed a letter asking that an investigation be opened by Congress into the allegations.
