Washington: Several women have accused US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of sexual advances and groping. Among his accusers are a Miss Utah beauty pageant winner, a businesswoman, a reporter, and a receptionist. He has denied the accusations.
In a 2005 video that emerged on October 7, Trump boasted about grabbing women by the genitals and kissing them without their consent. In the second US presidential debate on October 9, he said he was embarrassed by what he called locker room talk but that he had not engaged in the conduct he described in the video.
Responding to several women's allegations of groping and other misconduct, reported by The New York Times and other media on Thursday, Trump said on October 13 the claims were "absolutely false".
Following are some of the allegations against Trump:
* Jill Harth Houraney, a former Trump beauty pageant business associate, filed a $125 million lawsuit in 1997 against Trump alleging that on January 24, 1993 at Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Trump "forcibly removed plaintiff to a bedroom, whereupon defendant subjected plaintiff to defendant's unwanted sexual advances." A Trump spokesperson was quoted on October 7 in The New York Times as saying, "Mr Trump denies each and every statement made by Ms Harth." The lawsuit was dropped in May 1997.
* Temple Taggart McDowell, a former Miss Utah, was quoted by The New York Times in a report published on May 15 as saying that Trump "kissed me directly on the lips" when the two were introduced in 1997, when she was 21. Taggart told the Times, "I thought, 'Oh my God, gross.'" The Times' story said Trump disputed the report and added that Trump said "he is reluctant to kiss strangers on the lips".
* Jessica Leeds, 74, recounted in an video interview posted on The New York Times' website on October 12 that Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt on a flight to New York in or around 1980 when she was a 38 year-old travelling businesswoman. In a tweet and in a later speech on October 13, Trump called the Times' story a total fabrication.
* Rachel Crooks, formerly a receptionist at a real estate firm, told The New York Times in a report published on October 12 that Trump "kissed me directly on the mouth" in 2005 at Trump Tower in Manhattan when she was 22. Rachel Crooks, Natasha Stoynoff, Melania Trump
* Natasha Stoynoff, a reporter, wrote a first-person account that described Trump kissing her without her consent in December 2005 at Trump's Florida home Mar-a-Lago while she was working on an article about him and his third wife, Melania, for People magazine. In the account published by People on October 12, she said "he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat." In a tweet and in a later speech on October 13, Trump said the episode described did not happen.
* Mindy McGillivray was cited in an article published in The Palm Beach Post on October12 that while she was a 23-year-old photographer's assistant at a January 24, 2003, event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, Trump had grabbed her buttocks. The Palm Beach Post cited a Trump spokesperson as saying, "This allegation lacks any merit or veracity."
