Story highlights
Heller, now 63, said she met Trump at Mar-a-Lago nearly 20 years ago
CNN has not been able to independently confirm Heller's claims
Another woman stepped forward Saturday to accuse Donald Trump of sexual assault, saying he kissed her without her consent at his estate in Florida.
Cathy Heller joins a rapidly growing list of women who are accusing the GOP nominee of sexual assault in the week since a 2005 tape surfaced in which Trump bragged about being able to grope women and get away with it.
Heller, now 63, said she met Trump at Mar-a-Lago nearly 20 years ago while she and her family were having brunch, she told The Guardian newspaper.
Heller said she had been introduced to the GOP nominee by her mother-in-law. She told the paper the real estate magnate “took my hand, and grabbed me, and went for the lips,” without her consent.
She said Trump held her in place and kissed her. CNN has not been able to independently confirm Heller’s claims.
A spokesman for Trump’s campaign said there was “no way” Heller’s account is true.
“The media has gone too far in making this false accusation,” Jason Miller said in a statement. “There is no way that something like this would have happened in a public place on Mother’s Day at Mr. Trump’s resort. It would have been the talk of Palm Beach for the past two decades. The reality is this: for the media to wheel out a politically motivated Democratic activist with a legal dispute against this same resort owned by Mr. Trump does a disservice to the public, and anyone covering this story should be embarrassed for elevating this bogus claim.”
Heller has donated to Democratic campaigns on multiple occasions, including a $2,700 donation she made to Clinton’s presidential campaign this year. She also told The Guardian “her husband’s family is involved in a years-long effort to recover initiation fees that her late in-laws paid to join Mar-A-Lago.”
But The Guardian said it corroborated Heller’s claims with a relative who was seated at the dining table as well as a friend whom Heller told a year and half ago.
Heller is one of nearly 10 other women who have publicly accused Trump of sexual assault, including accounts of kissing and groping. Trump has vehemently denied all the allegations, suggesting they are surfacing now because of a “smear” campaign to derail his candidacy.
“Remember this, it’s a rigged election because you have phony people coming up with phony allegations with no witnesses whatsoever,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing completely false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect her (Clinton) president.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated Heller’s version of events as reported by The Guardian.
CNN’s Noah Gray contributed to this report.
