



Less than two hours before appearing on stage for the second presidential debate, Donald Trump staged a surprise event with women who have accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of wrongdoing.

Just days after he told a crowd in New Hampshire he would rather make the second debate about “policy” rather than “in the gutter” he held a three-minute press conference with four women.



Trump holds debate press conference with Bill Clinton accusers – live Read more

One of them bluntly stated: “Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me.”

In a statement issued in response, Clinton campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said: “We’re not surprised to see Donald Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom.”

Speaking in a conference room to a handful of reporters in an event aired on Facebook Live, Trump appeared with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathy Shelton and Kathleen Willey.

Three of the four women have claimed inappropriate sexual contact with Bill Clinton. Shelton was the victim in a 1975 rape case in which Hillary Clinton, in her capacity as a lawyer, was assigned by an Arkansas court to represent her alleged assailant. All four were subsequently Trump’s guests in the debate hall.

Both Jones and Willey have alleged inappropriate sexual conduct by Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Jones claimed in a civil law suit in 1994 that the then Arkansas governor propositioned her and exposed himself to her in a hotel room in 1991. Clinton denied the accusations. Jones’s case was settled without admission of guilt, with Clinton paying her $850,000.

Willey, a former White House aide, accused Clinton in 1998 on 60 Minutes that the president had sexually harassed her during a meeting in the Oval Office in 1993. The Office Of Independent Counsel reviewed Willey’s claims and found them inconclusive, saying Clinton and Willey were the only witnesses to the allegation and that Willey gave false evidence to the FBI. Through lawyers, Clinton denied the accusation.

The women took turns in speaking, after Trump had praised their courage. Broaddrick, who has alleged that the former president raped her in 1978, when he was Arkansas attorney general, spoke in the most stark terms.

Trump has mentioned her on social media several times in the run-up to the debate, tweeting several times. He even retweeted her tweets, a step rarely taken by the candidate who normally manually quotes tweets.

Broaddrick alleges that Clinton raped her in a hotel room while violently biting her upper lip. Clinton has flatly denied the claims, which emerged publicly in 1999 during the investigation of the former president by the independent counsel Ken Starr. The year earlier, Broaddrick had filed a sworn affidavit saying that the allegations against Clinton were untrue. Starr ruled that Broaddrick’s testimony about the incident was “inconclusive” and did not use it. Friends of Broaddrick say she told them about the alleged incident at the time.

At the press conference, Shelton said: “Hillary put me through something you should never put a 12-year-old through.”



The former secretary of state served as the lawyer for an alleged rapist, Thomas Alfred Taylor in 1975. She was appointed by the court to represent the man, one of two accused of raping Shelton, who was then 12. Taylor eventually took a plea bargain for a lesser charge.

In her statement, Palmieri continued: “Hillary Clinton understands the opportunity in this town hall is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them, and this stunt doesn’t change that.

“If Donald Trump doesn’t see that, that’s his loss. As always, she’s prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way.”

Ivanka Trump, who has been one of her father’s top surrogates in his attempts to appeal to women, did not immediately comment. When reached on Saturday with a request for comment about the mounting controversy surrounding her father’s campaign, she hung up on the Guardian.

Donald Trump groping remarks reveal 'pattern of sexual assault', says Kaine Read more

Trump’s press event came just 48 hours after a tape was released of the candidate making obscene boasts about using his fame to kiss and grope women without their consent.

The tape, captured on a live microphone with then Access Hollywood host Billy Bush in 2005, includes the statement: “I am 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, then 59 years old and newly married to his third wife, Melania, adds: “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Although the Republican nominee issued a videotaped apology after midnight on Friday, the mounting controversy has led a growing number of Republicans to announce that they will not vote for Trump in November.

These included the party’s 2008 nominee, John McCain, and a number of other senators in a tight re-election battles including Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.

Trump did not address questions from reporters about whether he had groped women without their consent, instead sitting silently while Paula Jones angrily proclaimed: “Why don’t you all ask Bill Clinton that? Why don’t you all ask Bill Clinton that?”