Woman testifies at rape trial that Donald Trump molested her on a plane in 1970s

WARNING: This article contains details and allegations of sexual assault and may affect people who have experienced sexual assault or know someone who has been affected.

The woman who said that Donald Trump silently molested her on the plane during the flight in the late 1970s testified in support of the writer E. Jean Carroll, who alleges that flirtatious 1996 meeting with the future US president ended in violent sexual assault.

Jessica Leeds, 81, of Asheville, NC, said Trump accosted her with what seemed like “40 zillion hands.” He joined other witnesses who corroborated the testimony of Carroll, a longtime advice columnist who aired his claims against Trump in 2019, when he published a memoir. Trump has repeatedly denied the claims, saying Carroll lied to sell his book and disparaged him.

The witnesses were meant to corroborate Carroll’s testimony that Trump raped her in the dressing room of a luxury store in midtown Manhattan. Carroll’s testimony lasted three days and ended Monday.

Lisa Birnbach, Carroll’s friend, testified that an emotional and hyperventilating Carroll called her minutes after meeting with Trump to report what had happened. Birnbach said she told Carroll that Carroll had been raped and asked her to go to the police, but she refused, leading her to argue before Birnbach agreed not to talk again.

Leeds said he was in his 30s and working in sales when he was invited by a flight attendant on a daytime flight from Dallas or Atlanta to New York to sit in an empty aisle seat in the first-class cabin.

“The guy sitting by the window introduced himself as Donald Trump,” he said.

The conversation between the pair was mostly memorable, Leeds recalled, as they ate a delicious meal, before “all of a sudden Trump decided to kiss me and grope me.”

“There was no conversation. It was like out of the blue. It was like a tussle,” he recalled. “He was trying to kiss me, trying to pull me to him. He was grabbing my chest. It was like he had 40 zillion hands. It was like a tussling match between the two of us.”

Leeds said the standoff ended when he realized no flight attendants had come to the rescue and Trump appeared more aggressive.

“It was when he started putting his hand up my skirt that gave me strength. I was able to wriggle out of the seat and storm back to the seat in the coach. I don’t think a word or a sound was made by either of us,” she recalled.

Asked to describe how long the meeting took, Leeds said, “it seemed like forever, but it was probably only a few seconds.”

When the plane landed, Leeds recalled, he stayed on board until everyone else had left so he wouldn’t run into Trump again.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll and Leeds did.

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Support is available to anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety or the safety of others around you, call 911.