Woman testifies that she too was sexually assaulted by Trump

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NEW YORK (AP) A woman testified Tuesday that Donald Trump groped her with what seemed like 40 zillion hands on an airline flight in the late 1970s years before writer E. Jean Carroll said the former sexually assaulted her. president of a Manhattan department store.

Meanwhile, Trumps lawyer said the former president decided not to testify, answering the biggest remaining question about the closely watched case. Trump gave sworn deposition testimony, and excerpts could be played for the jury.

Jessica Leeds, 81, of Asheville, North Carolina, told jurors in a civil trial stemming from the Carrolls’ lawsuit that Trump touched her breast and put his hand up her skirt as they sat side by side in first class on a New York City-bound jet . After a few seconds, he said, he disengaged from Trump, told him I didn’t need it and rushed to the back of the plane.

No talk. It seems out of the blue. It was such a tussle, Leeds testified. He tried to kiss me, trying to pull me towards him. He held my chest. He looks like he has 40 zillion hands. It’s like a tussling match between the two of us.

Carrolls’ lawyers called Leeds to the witness stand in an attempt to show that Trump has a history of assaulting women and that Carrolls’ claims were part of a pattern, not an incident. Another woman is expected to testify at trial that she was also victimized by Trump.

Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly denied the women’s claims. He contended that the allegations were politically motivated attempts to tarnish his reputation and deny him the White House. He said Carroll lied to sell books and was not his type.

Trump used similar language in denying the allegations in Leeds, telling supporters at a rally in 2016, Trust me, he wouldn’t be my first choice.

Leeds first went public with his account of the alleged plane attack in the final weeks of Trumps 2016 campaign, telling jurors he decided to do it because he was angry about Trump’s claims of a debate that he never touched women against their will.

Carroll, a former magazine advice columnist, went public with his allegations against Trump in 2019, when he published a memoir. She testified over three days ending Monday that Trump raped her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury department store.

Lisa Birnbach, a longtime friend of Carroll, testified that an emotional and hyperventiating Carroll called her minutes after her meeting with Trump to report what had happened. She said she told Carroll that Carroll had been raped and urged her to go to the police, but Carroll refused, leading them to argue before Birnbach agreed not to talk about it.

Leeds said he was in his late 30s, working in sales and sitting in coach on a Braniff Airways flight from Dallas or Atlanta to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, probably in 1979, when a flight attendant invited him to sit in the lone seat. aisle seat the first-class cabin, next to Trump.

Trump introduced himself, Leeds said, but he didn’t know who he was at the time. Working then as a real estate developer, Trump had not yet reached the height of his popularity and was still years away from the opening of Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Leeds said he sat with Trump for several hours and ate a nice, first-class meal, but their conversation was unforgettable. Then, she said, Trump suddenly decided to kiss and caress me.

Leeds said she fought back as Trump seemed to become more aggressive, pressing his weight against her, squeezing her seat and pinning her to it. No passengers intervened, and no employees from the now-defunct airline came to his rescue, he said.

It was when he started moving his hand up my skirt that gave me strength. I managed to wriggle out of my seat and return to my seat in the coach. I don’t think either of us said a word or a sound, Leeds recalled. She said the encounter, seemed like forever, but probably only a few seconds.

After landing in New York, Leeds said he stayed on the plane until everyone left to avoid running into Trump again. He said he kept the incident to himself, considering it one of the hardships of travel.

She didn’t report it to the airline, the police or her boss because, she said, it was a time when women didn’t complain about things in the workplace.

Years later, Leeds said he saw Trump at a Manhattan gala with his first wife, Ivana, who was pregnant. But Leeds said nothing. Instead, he told jurors that Trump piped up. She remembered him using a harsh word in identifying her as the woman from the plane.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they go public, as Carroll and Leeds did.

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On Twitter, follow Larry Neumeister at https://twitter.com/lneumeister and Michael Sisak at https://twitter.com/mikesak. Submit confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.

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