February 20, 2018

Trump Tweet Attacks Woman Who Accused Him of Unwanted Sexual Advances

Rachel Crooks is one of nearly 20 women to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct.

Rachel Crooks is running for Ohio's state legislature as a Democrat. She says Donald Trump forcibly kissed her in Trump Tower in 2006, where she worked as a receptionist.Mark Lennihan/AP

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President Donald Trump took to Twitter Tuesday morning to defend himself against allegations of sexual assault. This time, he refuted the claim that he forcibly kissed a woman in 2006. The story Trump appears to be referencing in The Washington Post profiles Rachel Crooks, who worked at the time as a receptionist at an investment firm inside Trump Tower.

The New York Times first reported Crooks’ account in October 2016, in the days following the second presidential debate. Trump categorically denied the allegations at that time, as well.

Nearly 20 women have come forward accusing the president of sexual misconduct, and one has tried to sue him for defamation. In a 2005 Access Hollywood tape, Trump said that he is “automatically attracted to beautiful [women] — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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