Ex-model who accused Trump of groping her in 1990s says Epstein often spoke of Trump

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Friday, October 25, 2024
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The former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who has accused former President Donald Trump of groping her in front of Jeffrey Epstein in the early 1990s is offering more details about what she claims she observed about Epstein's relationship with the current presidential candidate and what she says Epstein told her.

"I would say that he talked about having just seen Donald or having just done something, I mean, every time we spoke," Stacey Williams, who worked as a professional model in the 1990s, told ABC News in an interview.

Williams went public this week with an allegation that Trump groped her in front of Epstein after she said Epstein, who would later be known as a serial sex offender, brought her to Trump Tower in the early 1990s.

Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997.
Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997.
Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

'I felt so humiliated'

In her interview with ABC News, Williams said that during her several-month relationship with Epstein, who she said she met in 1992, Trump was among three people who Epstein talked to her about the most, with one of the other two being Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate who has since been sentenced to prison for 20 years for recruiting and grooming the underage girls who Epstein sexually abused.

The third person, Williams said, was Leslie Wexner, the billionaire retail magnate who once employed Epstein to manage his fortune.

"The people he spoke about the most were his boss, or whatever that person was, Les Wexner, hard to understand that role. And then Ghislaine, again, a little ambiguous weird relationship. And then Donald Trump," Williams told ABC News. "Those are the people he spoke about the most."

The details come after Williams first publicly discussed the alleged incident in detail on a public "Survivors for Kamala" Zoom call last Monday night in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. The group is not officially affiliated with Harris' presidential campaign.

In a statement to ABC News, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt denied Williams' allegations, stating in part, "These accusations, made by a former activist for Barack Obama and announced on a Harris campaign call two weeks before the election, are unequivocally false."

Asked about the claim that Epstein spoke frequently about Trump, a Trump campaign spokesperson said, "It is widely known that President Trump banned Jeffrey Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago Club when revelations about his sex trafficking became public."

On the Zoom call, which ABC News obtained a video of, Williams, who first began speaking publicly about the alleged incident with Trump and Epstein in Facebook posts dating back to 2020, said she felt like the alleged groping incident was a "twisted game" between Trump and Epstein.

"I felt so humiliated and so sick to my stomach and was so upset, and as I absorbed what happened a few minutes later, I felt like that was some sort of sick bet or game between the two of them," Williams said. "I was rolled in there like a piece of meat for some kind of challenge or twisted game, and I felt horrendous."

"I figured it was time to share this and I'm ready to win this election," Williams, a longtime Democrat who has been active in politics, said, on the Zoom call. "The thought of that monster being back in the White House is my absolute worst nightmare."

'It was orchestrated'

Williams told ABC News the alleged encounter, when she was 24, lasted no more than ten minutes. "I was in shock and I was frozen," Williams said.

"He just put his arms out and pulled me towards him and his hands on some part of my body the entire time," Williams claimed in the interview. "His hands would touch the sides of my breasts, not the front, but the sides of my breasts, my waist, and then slid down to my butt and just kept kind of running up and down my body while the two of them were carrying on a conversation."

Speaking with ABC News, Williams explained that shortly after the alleged incident, she began to suspect that the encounter with Trump and Epstein had been "orchestrated," but went into denial about it because of the shame it made her feel.

"Now there's no doubt in my mind it was orchestrated," Williams said.

Not long after the alleged incident, Williams said Trump sent her a handwritten postcard featuring his Mar-a-Lago estate that read, "Stacey -- Your home away from home. Love Donald." A photo of the postcard was shared with ABC News.

Two friends confirmed to ABC News in interviews that Williams told them years ago about the alleged incident with the former president. Longtime friend Allison Gutwillinger told ABC News in an interview that in 2015 Williams invited her over to her home to tell her about the alleged incident after Trump had announced his run for office.

"I came over to her house. There was a postcard on the kitchen counter, with what looked like Mar-a-Lago on the cover. I turned it over, and there was a handwritten note signed 'Love Donald.'" Gutwillinger said. "She then told me he groped her in Trump Tower."

'Not a fan of his'

Trump eventually distanced himself from Epstein, who in 2019 died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Authorities say that, in the early 2000s, Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in New York and Florida, among other locations.

In 2002, Trump told New York magazine, "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy."

"He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side," Trump said at the time.

Epstein was questioned about his relationship with Trump during a March 2010 deposition in a civil suit against Epstein filed by some of his victims.

Epstein answered, "Yes, sir," when asked if he had socialized with Trump. When asked if he "ever socialized with Donald Trump in the presence of females under the age of 18" Epstein replied, "Though I'd like to answer that question, at least today I'm going to have to assert my Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendment right, sir."

By the time Epstein was charged in 2019, then-President Trump told reporters at the White House he was "not a fan of his, that I can tell you" and that he hadn't "spoken to him in 15 years."

MORE: 5 years after Jeffrey Epstein's arrest, push for accountability continues

A year later, Trump wished Ghislaine Maxwell "well" after being asked by a reporter if the longtime Epstein associate should reveal the names of powerful people who were associated with the serial sex offender.

"I don't know," Trump said. "I haven't really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly."

In 2021, Maxwell was convicted on five of six counts related to the abuse and trafficking of underage girls.

During Maxwell's trial, flight logs released as evidence showed that Trump was listed as a passenger on Epstein's private jets at least seven times: four times in 1993, once in 1994 and 1995, and a previously known time 1997.

MORE: Jeffrey Epstein's suicide: New details revealed

At least 18 women have accused Trump of varying inappropriate behavior, including allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault. During Trump's first run for the White House, a 2005 video surfaced where he discussed groping women, in which Trump can be heard telling former "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush, "When you're a star they let you do it."

"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful women, I just start kissing them, it's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything," Trump said, including "grab 'em by the p----."

Trump apologized at the time after the comments were made public, saying in a video, "Anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am," adding, "I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize."

Trump has long vehemently denied all of the women's accusations. In some cases, he and his team members have specifically denied individual accusations, but they have also repeatedly issued blanket denials against all the allegations, calling the women liars.

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