In a New York magazine cover story published Friday, author E. Jean Carroll accused President Trump of raping her in a dressing room of New York's Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s.
Why it matters: Carroll's accusation is the 16th allegation of sexual misconduct or assault levied against the president throughout his time in public life — all of which he has denied.
- Trump was caught on tape in 2005 during filming for an episode of "Access Hollywood" discussing groping and kissing women and saying that "when you’re a star, they let you do it." That tape was given to the Washington Post during the 2016 election.
- The White House issued a statement on Friday evening in which Trump claimed he "never met this person in my life," despite the New York magazine article featuring a photo of Trump and Carroll together in 1987.
Between the lines: It's unusual to see a sexual assault allegation written in first person — the piece is an excerpt from Carroll's forthcoming book "What Do We Need Men For: A Modest Proposal?" — but Carroll says she disclosed the incident to two friends soon afterward, which New York magazine says it verified.
The big picture: The Trump account is only one portion of Carroll's piece, which includes her recounting other instances of alleged sexual assault at the hands of multiple men — including former CBS CEO and Chairman Les Moonves. She claims Moonves forced himself on her in a Beverly Hills hotel elevator after she interviewed him for a 1997 Esquire piece.
Go deeper: The lasting health effects of sexual assault
