Trump himself has lengthy been accused of abusing or mistreating girls and as soon as was caught bragging about grabbing girls by the genitals. He was discovered liable by a New York Metropolis jury for sexual abuse and defamation and finally ordered to pay the lady, E. Jean Carroll, $83 million in damages.
Taken collectively, there are a putting variety of incidents during which potential high-ranking authorities officers in Trump’s second administration face allegations of sexual abuse. Trump and all of his picks for presidency have denied the claims towards them, with a number of the individuals accused arguing the instances are pushed by politics.
With six members of the 15-plus member management group going through allegations, roughly one-third of the highest White Home workers have a historical past of misconduct claims.
Right here’s a take a look at what’s recognized in regards to the instances:
President-elect Donald Trump
Jurors in New York final yr discovered Trump responsible for sexually abusing Carroll, an recommendation columnist, in 1996.
The decision was break up: Jurors rejected Carroll’s declare that she was raped, discovering Trump answerable for a lesser diploma of sexual abuse. Jurors additionally discovered Trump responsible for defaming Carroll over her allegations. Trump didn’t attend the civil trial and was absent when the decision was learn.
Carroll was considered one of greater than a dozen girls who’ve accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. She went public in a 2019 memoir along with her allegation that the Republican raped her within the dressing room of a fancy Manhattan division retailer.
Trump denied it, saying he by no means encountered Carroll on the retailer and didn’t know her. He has known as her a “nut job” who invented “a fraudulent and false story” to promote a memoir. He has equally denied claims by different girls.
Pete Hegseth, nominee for secretary of protection
A lady instructed police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her telephone, blocked the door to a California resort room and refused to let her depart, based on an in depth investigative report made public this week.
Hegseth instructed police on the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report mentioned.
Information of the allegations surfaced final week when native officers launched a quick assertion confirming {that a} girl had accused Hegseth of sexual assault in October 2017 after he had spoken at a Republican girls’s occasion in Monterey.
Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, mentioned in an announcement that the police report confirms “what I’ve mentioned all alongside that the incident was absolutely investigated and police discovered the allegations to be false, which is why no prices had been filed.”
Parlatore mentioned a cost was made to the lady as a part of a confidential settlement just a few years after the police investigation as a result of Hegseth was involved that she was ready to file a lawsuit that he feared might have resulted in him being fired from Fox Information, the place he was a preferred host. Parlatore wouldn’t reveal the quantity of the cost.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee for secretary of well being and human providers
A lady who babysat for Kennedy and his second spouse instructed Self-importance Truthful journal that he groped her within the late Nineteen Nineties, when she was 23. Kennedy didn’t deny the allegation, telling a podcast: “I had a really, very rambunctious youth.” He texted the lady an apology after the story was printed.
In response to an interview the lady gave this week with USA At this time, she mentioned she was babysitting for his kids at Kennedy’s dwelling in Mount Kisco, New York. She mentioned that the assault occurred quickly after she started working there. Throughout a kitchen desk assembly with Kennedy and one other particular person, she mentioned she felt him rubbing her leg underneath the desk.
She instructed the newspaper that one other time, Kennedy, then 46, requested her to rub lotion on him when he was shirtless and he or she obliged as a result of she needed to get it over with. And he grabbed her in a kitchen pantry and groped her, blocking her exit. She stayed on the job for just a few extra months earlier than leaving.
Linda McMahon, nominee for secretary of schooling
A lawsuit filed final month alleges that McMahon knowingly enabled sexual exploitation of kids by a World Wrestling Leisure worker as early because the Eighties. She denies the allegations.
The swimsuit was filed in October in Maryland, the place a current legislation change eradicated the state’s statute of limitations for little one intercourse abuse claims, opening the doorways for victims to sue no matter their age or how a lot time has handed.
The grievance alleges that Melvin Phillips, who died in 2012, would goal younger males from deprived backgrounds and rent them as “ring boys” to assist with the preparations for wrestling matches. Phillips would then assault them in his dressing room, lodges and even within the wrestlers’ locker room, based on the grievance, which was filed on behalf of 5 males.
The abuse detailed within the lawsuit occurred over a number of years throughout Phillips’ lengthy tenure with the group spanning from the Seventies to the early Nineteen Nineties. Due to his loss of life, Phillips shouldn’t be among the many named defendants.
As an alternative, the grievance targets WWE founders Linda McMahon and her husband Vince, who grew the group into the powerhouse it’s as we speak. The couple was properly conscious of Phillips’ brazen misconduct however did little to cease him, based on the grievance.
“This civil lawsuit based mostly upon thirty-plus year-old allegations is full of scurrilous lies, exaggerations, and misrepresentations concerning Linda McMahon,” mentioned Laura Brevetti, Linda McMahon’s lawyer, in an announcement. “The matter on the time was investigated by firm attorneys and the FBI, which discovered no grounds to proceed the investigation. Ms. McMahon will vigorously defend towards this baseless lawsuit and no doubt finally succeed.”
Brevetti confirmed Linda and Vince McMahon are separated.
Elon Musk, Trump’s selection to steer the brand new Division of Authorities Effectivity
Tesla and SpaceXCEO Elon Musk was accused of sexual misconduct by a flight attendant contracted by SpaceX who labored on his personal jet in 2016. He denied the declare.
A 2022 report by Enterprise Insider mentioned SpaceX paid the lady $250,000 in severance in 2018 in change for her agreeing to not file a lawsuit over her declare.
The Enterprise Insider report was based mostly on an account by the flight attendant’s good friend, who mentioned the flight attendant instructed her in regards to the incident shortly after it occurred. The report additionally mentioned the flight attendant was required to signal a non-disclosure settlement that prohibits her from discussing the cost or the rest about Musk and SpaceX.
SpaceX didn’t reply to emails in search of remark Friday.
Musk responded to the allegations on Twitter, which he was within the course of of shopping for on the time they surfaced.
“And, for the document, these wild accusations are completely unfaithful,” he wrote in response to at least one consumer who tweeted in help of him.
He replied to a different: “In my 30 yr profession, together with all the MeToo period, there’s nothing to report, however, as quickly as I say I intend to revive free speech to Twitter & vote Republican, immediately there may be …”
Matt Gaetz, who withdrew as Trump’s selection for legal professional basic
The previous Florida congressman was embroiled in a intercourse trafficking investigation by the Justice Division he had been tapped to steer. He additionally was underneath scrutiny by the Home Ethics Committee over allegations together with sexual misconduct — till he resigned from Congress this week. He then withdrew his identify for consideration.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and mentioned final yr that the Justice Division’s investigation into intercourse trafficking allegations involving underage women had ended with no federal prices towards him.
Federal investigators scrutinized a visit that Gaetz took to the Bahamas with a bunch of ladies and a physician who donated to his marketing campaign, and whether or not the ladies had been paid or obtained items to have intercourse with the lads, based on individuals accustomed to the matter who weren’t allowed to publicly focus on the investigation.
Two girls Home investigators that Gaetz paid them for intercourse and one of many girls testified she noticed him having intercourse with a 17-year-old, based on an legal professional for the ladies.
The committee started its evaluation of Gaetz in April 2021, deferred its work in response to a Justice Division request, and renewed its work shortly after Gaetz introduced that the Justice Division had ended a intercourse trafficking investigation.
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Related Press author Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
