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What did Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks accuse Donald Trump of and when did they come forward in 2016?
Executive Summary
Jessica Leeds alleged that Donald Trump groped and kissed her on an airplane in the late 1970s or early 1980s, and Rachel Crooks alleged that Trump forcibly kissed her outside a Trump Tower elevator in 2005; both women publicly accused Trump in October 2016 when their accounts were published together in The New York Times amid the presidential campaign [1] [2] [3]. Trump and his campaign denied the allegations, calling them false and politically motivated, and media follow‑up produced confirmatory and contradictory details reported across outlets in 2016–2020 [4]. The core facts across reporting are consistent on the nature of the allegations and the timing of their public disclosure, while disputes center on corroboration, motive, and Trump’s denials, which were emphatic and immediate [1] [5] [6].
1. How the accusations were described and framed — vivid, specific allegations that surfaced during a campaign flashpoint
Jessica Leeds described an encounter in which Donald Trump allegedly groped her chest, kissed her, and reached up her skirt on an airplane in the late 1970s or early 1980s; Rachel Crooks described an incident in 2005 in which Trump allegedly grabbed and kissed her on the mouth and cheeks after they met in Trump Tower where she worked as a receptionist. These accounts were published together in mid‑October 2016 in major outlets and were part of a wave of similar allegations that followed publication of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording earlier that month, which heightened public attention to claims of sexual misconduct [1] [3] [6]. The women characterized the encounters as unwanted and traumatic, and their statements framed the allegations as part of a pattern of behavior reported by multiple women during the campaign cycle [2].
2. When they came forward — timing tied to the Access Hollywood tape and a New York Times exposé
Both Leeds and Crooks came forward publicly in October 2016, with their accounts appearing in The New York Times on October 12, 2016, according to contemporaneous reporting; this publication came four days after the release of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape that had reignited scrutiny of Trump’s comments and behavior toward women [3] [4]. Sources report that Leeds decided to speak after a presidential debate in which Trump denied groping or kissing women without permission, and that the timing reflected both the tape’s fallout and journalists’ outreach to multiple women alleging misconduct [1] [4]. The clustering of reports in October 2016 made the allegations a major campaign issue and prompted immediate denials and legal threats from Trump and his spokespersons [2].
3. Trump’s response and campaign strategy — denial, character attack, and threats to sue
Donald Trump and his campaign uniformly denied the allegations, labeling them false, politically motivated, or “preposterous,” and Trump at times responded with personal attacks on the women’s credibility and appearance; his lawyers threatened legal action against reporters and outlets. The campaign also suggested the allegations were part of a plot to derail his candidacy, and Trump publicly questioned the plausibility of some encounters occurring in public spaces with security present [2] [5]. Media accounts document that the campaign sought to discredit accusers by pointing to eyewitness challenges and alternative narratives while reiterating blanket denials — a strategy that shaped public perception and polarized reactions along partisan lines [4].
4. Subsequent coverage and challenges — corroboration attempts, rebuttals, and media retrospectives
Follow‑up reporting from 2016 through 2020 revisited the accusations with additional interviews, attempted corroboration, and challenges; some articles noted witnesses who disputed certain details while others highlighted the consistency of multiple women’s accounts and their refusal to retract statements. Media outlets published rebuttals and defenses, including an October 2016 New York Post piece questioning a witness to Leeds’ account, and later summaries in 2018–2020 placed Leeds and Crooks among a larger list of women accusing Trump of misconduct [4] [2] [7]. These later pieces documented that Trump continued to deny the claims and reiterated threats to sue, while accusers maintained their allegations and called for investigations or for their accounts to be taken seriously [5] [6].
5. What remains contested and the broader significance — credibility, motive, and political impact
The central facts accepted across reporting are that Leeds and Crooks publicly accused Trump in October 2016 of specific incidents of unwanted sexual contact occurring decades earlier, and that Trump denied these allegations [1] [3] [6]. Disputes persist over corroborating evidence, witness statements, and the motives of accusers and the campaign; media coverage and political actors offered competing interpretations that often tracked partisan lines, with defenders emphasizing alleged inconsistencies and critics pointing to a pattern across multiple accusers [4]. The accusations shaped the 2016 debate about character and fitness for office, influenced public discussion of sexual misconduct in politics, and continue to be cited in retrospectives and legal and political analyses of Trump’s behavior and responses [2] [5].