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People writer's confidants back her up on Trump sex assault claim
| New York Daily News | - |
Natasha
Stoynoff accused Donald Trump of cornering her at his Mar-a-Lago estate
during a 2005 interview and "forcing his tongue down (her) throat.
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People reporter’s Trump sex assault accusations backed up by accounts from six friends and colleagues
Natasha Stoynoff accused Donald Trump of cornering her at his Mar-a-Lago estate during a 2005 interview and "forcing his tongue down (her) throat."
(Twitter)Stoynoff came forward last week with allegations that Trump had pinned her against a wall during a December 2005 interview in Florida and began "forcing his tongue down (her) throat."
Her account of the incident, revealed in a bombshell piece for People magazine amid revelations from several other women that they'd been the victims of similar behavior by the mogul, was met with threats of a lawsuit from Melania Trump, who said that parts of the piece were "false and completely fictionalized."
But on Tuesday, People hit back by providing detailed accounts from several people who said Trump's attack on Stoynoff definitely took place.
Melania Trump threatens suit against People for assault story
Marina Grasic, a friend of the reporter for more than 25 years, told the magazine that Stoynoff called her after the attack.
"Natasha was also struggling about not hurting pregnant Melania if the story came out," Grasic said. "Beyond just the attack, she was horrified by the vulgar circumstances under which she was attacked and propositioned to have an affair. She was there in a professional capacity, writing an article about their happy marriage, and after the incident Trump acted like nothing happened."
"She was particularly concerned that if he was capable of such behavior, what else was he capable of," Grasic added. "She ultimately decided to stay quiet but be taken off the Trump beat."
Stoynoff's former journalism professor, Paul McLaughlin, told the magazine that his former student called him in tears seeking advice.
Trump tries to brush off sex assault claims as campaign crumbles
The GOP nominee has said Stoynoff's story is part of a media conspiracy against him organized by the Clintons, and even insulted Stoynoff's physical appearance at a rally.
(TANNEN MAURY/EPA)Another person Stoynoff told about the incident, the magazine's East Coast Editor Liz McNeil, said she remembered Stoynoff being "very upset."
"The thing I remember most was how scared she was. I felt I had to protect her," she said.
Three more confidants of Stoynoff are also quoted in the piece.
People writer claims Trump physically and sexually abused her
In Stoynoff's original first person account, published last week, she said Trump cornered her at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2005, where she'd gone for a story about Trump's first wedding anniversary with his wife Melania, who was pregnant at the time.
She said the assault broke off when Trump's butler burst in to warn him his wife was coming downstairs.
"We're going to have an affair, I'm telling you," she quoted him as saying.
Melania Trump has threatened to sue Stoynoff for her “false and completely fictionalized” story.
(Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)Both Donald and Melania Trump have denied the mogul's encounter with Stoynoff ever occurred.
The GOP nominee has said Stoynoff's story is part of a media conspiracy against him organized by the Clintons, and even insulted Stoynoff's physical appearance at a rally.
Melania Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly claimed Stoynoff's story couldn't be true because of a small detail in the story.
Stoynoff wrote that she ran into the former model outside Trump Tower soon after the Mar-a-Lago interview, and she said, "Natasha, why don't we see you anymore."
Stoynoff also wrote that Melania Trump was holding an infant Barron Trump, who was born in March 2006.
Melania Trump has contended the two have never been friendly and that she would not have recognized Stoynoff on the street.
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