Stacey Williams goes public with her allegations against Donald Trump

Thirty-one years after Stacey Williams said she was groped by Donald Trump while Jeffrey Epstein looked on, the 56-year-old author, consultant and former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model went public with her claim this week.

Williams, 56, told her story Monday night on a “Survivors for Kamala” Zoom call that was open to the public and was attended by hundreds of people, organizers said. In it, a number of women discussed their experiences of sexual violence, including actress Ashley Judd and Tarana Burke, who founded the #MeToo movement.

Williams, a registered Democrat who attended the 2008 Democratic National Convention and has been active in liberal causes in the past, said on the Zoom call that her decision to come forward partly related to the election.

“I thought it was time to share this and I’m ready to win this election,” Williams said on the Zoom call. “The thought of this monster being back in the White House is my absolute worst nightmare.”

In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Williams said her decision to come forward was not made in consultation with the Democratic Party. Asked if she had communicated with Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, she replied: “Not at all.”

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt flatly rejected Williams' claim in a statement. “These allegations, made by a former Barack Obama activist and announced at a Harris campaign call two weeks before the election, are clearly false,” the statement reads in part.

NBC News spoke with seven people who said they discussed the allegations with Williams from 2006 to 2022. All said they found Williams and her claim to be credible and consistent. Her claim was first published in the Guardian and first broadcast by CNN.

Williams appears to be the first person to publicly accuse Trump of sexual misconduct in which Epstein played a role. None of the dozens of women close to Epstein that NBC News has interviewed over the past seven years have accused Trump of wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution and served a prison sentence in Florida. He died by suicide in a Manhattan federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges of minors.

“I feel very comfortable and ready to say it,” Williams told NBC News, “and then I can deal with the backlash.”

A visit to Trump Tower

Williams said she first met Epstein at a dinner in 1992 and that they began spending time together while both were in town. She said Epstein was not her boyfriend and the relationship was never sexual.

You and Epstein attended a Christmas party that year at the Plaza Hotel — which Trump owned at the time. She recalled seeing Trump at the party and said it was clear the two men were friends.

Later, in the “late winter, early spring” of 1993, Williams recalled, she was walking with Epstein near Fifth Avenue when he suggested visiting Trump at Trump Tower. It was a sunny day, she recalled, and she wasn't wearing a coat, she told NBC News.

She said on the Zoom call: “We went to Trump Tower and went up the elevator, and moments later Trump greeted us.”

Moments after meeting him, Trump “pulled me into him and started groping me. “He put his hands on my breasts, my waist and my butt and I froze,” Williams said on the Zoom call. Her voice seemed to break as she described how touched she had been. “And I froze because I was deeply confused about what was happening because the hands were moving all over me.”

Williams said the two men spoke calmly while Trump groped them.

“These two men smiled at each other and continued their conversation,” she said.

Williams told NBC News that the two men spoke about her “as an object.” She said they focused on her looks and her appearances in Sports Illustrated in a conversation she described as “disgusting.” She said the entire incident lasted five to 10 minutes and occurred in a reception area outside Trump's office.

Williams said that after the encounter, when she and Epstein were back on the street, Epstein became angry and began “harassing” her with questions. “Why did you let him do that?” he asked, according to Williams. The fact that Epstein blamed her confused her, Williams said.

“He made me feel so disgusted and I remember being completely confused at that moment,” Williams recalled. “I felt so humiliated and so sick to my stomach and so upset.”

She added: “I was someone who was really proud of being one of the tough models, which was kind of problematic because I stood up to the predators of the industry.”

“And then the next, probably the closest feeling I remember was just shame and embarrassment,” she said. “I had allowed something to happen that I could have prevented.”

Williams and Epstein never discussed the incident again, she said. Williams was deeply disturbed and shortly afterwards broke off contact with Epstein. She said she had no knowledge that Epstein was abusing young women and breaking the law until media reports about him surfaced.

Days after the incident, a postcard addressed to her arrived at her modeling agency, Williams recalled. Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort was pictured on the front, and what appeared to be a handwritten message from him on the back. Williams said she still has the postcard and she shared photos with NBC News.

“Stacey, your home away from home, Love Donald” was written on the back, in handwriting similar to Trump's. The postcard is neither stamped nor dated.

“I felt very ashamed and blamed myself for it. And that made me not want to talk about it,” Williams said.

She added that she never considered reporting the allegations to the police. She said she never met Trump again.

NBC News spoke to seven people who said Williams had previously told them about the alleged encounter with Trump, most of whom requested anonymity. Six of them were long-time friends and acquaintances. The first was told in 2006, another was told before Trump became a presidential candidate, and the last was told in 2022.

Ally Gutwillinger, a friend, said Williams told her a week after Trump announced his 2015 presidential campaign that she had been groped by Trump in front of Epstein.

“I still remember it clearly. “I was at her house,” Gutwillinger told NBC News. “I saw the postcard from Mar-a-Lago sitting there.” And she told me to turn it over. And it said, 'Stacey, your second home.'” I love Donald.'”

Williams' claim that Epstein introduced her to Trump echoes other women's descriptions of Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who introduced women to people who sexually abused them in some way.

I decide to speak up

Two years ago, Williams was interviewed for a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition film, “Beyond the Gaze.” At one point, she said on camera that she had been groped by a former president before Epstein, but did not name Trump. A few weeks ago, she learned that the film would be shown at the Woodstock Film Festival earlier this month.

Williams told NBC News she felt it was important to provide more context to the events since the film's premiere came just weeks after the election.

“If this is going to be published, I need to tell my story and I feel ready,” she said.

Through a friend, she was connected to the Survivors for Kamala appeal, a coalition of groups and individuals who have come together in support of Harris.

Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women in recent years, including former columnist E. Jean Carroll. Last year, a New York jury found Trump guilty of sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, but not of her alleged rape. He continued to deny all allegations of sexual misconduct.

The latest accusation against Trump comes less than two weeks before Election Day, and early voting has already begun in several states.

In a 2005 video, which became known as the “Access Hollywood” tape after its release in 2016 and was released just weeks before that year's election, Trump can be heard saying, “I automatically gravitate toward beautiful women attracted – I just start kissing.” For her it's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And if you're a star, they let you do it. “You can do anything,” he said, including “grab her by the p—-.”

Williams said she became more comfortable telling her story over time.

“He hurt me,” Williams told NBC News. “Sexual assault is harmful. It hurts people.”