The New York Times said Thursday it would not remove a story it published containing accusations Donald Trump touched two women inappropriately.
The letter declining to remove the article came from New York Times lawyer David McCraw in response to a demand for retraction from the presidential candidate. Trump said the Times story “constitutes libel,” but McCraw wrote that the piece does not meet the legal standard for that charge.
“The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one’s reputation. Mr. Trump has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women. He has bragged about intruding on beauty pageant contestants in their dressing rooms. He acquiesced to a radio host’s request to discuss Mr. Trump’s own daughter as a ‘piece of ass,’” McCraw wrote. “Multiple women not mentioned in our article have publicly come forward to report on Mr. Trump’s unwanted advances. nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.”
The Times article, published Wednesday, recounted the stories of two separate women who say Trump touched them without their consent. One woman, Jessica Leeds, now 74, said Trump assaulted her on an airplane more than 30 years ago. Another woman, Rachel Crooks, worked for a company with offices in Trump Tower. According to the report, Trump kissed her “directly on the mouth” outside an elevator in 2005.
Trump has come under fire during the last week for his comments and conduct towards women following the release of a 2005 video in which the candidate brags about sexually assaulting women. He repeatedly dismissed that episode as “locker room talk,” and at a campaign appearance Thursday denied the allegations in the Times article. He called them “a conspiracy against the American people” from the media and political establishment. He said the claims are “totally and absolutely false” and “pure fiction and outright lies.”
The allegations made Wednesday in the Times article come amid accusations from several other women who have come forward with stories about Trump acting inappropriately. Several former contestants at his pageants have alleged he walked into the dressing room while women, including teenagers, were naked. A People magazine writer came forward Wednesday with allegations Trump assaulted her when she was on assignment writing a story about him in 2005.
The Times said its reporters confirmed the women’s stories it published Wednesday, and that is the paper’s duty to report on such allegations made against a candidate for president.
“We did what the law allows: We published newsworthy information about a subject of deep public concern,” McCraw wrote. “If Mr. Trump disagrees, if he believes that American citizens had no right to hear what these women had to say and that the law of this country forces us and those who would dare to criticize him to stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.”
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