Ex-Miss Switzerland accuses Donald Trump of rape in Democrats’ Epstein report; White House calls it a desperate distraction
A House Democrats’ report includes Beatrice Keul’s allegation that Trump raped her in 1993. The White House denies it and Democrats want a special counsel
PTC Web Desk: A new report by House Democrats includes an allegation of rape against President Donald Trump from Beatrice Keul, a former Miss Switzerland contestant. The White House has rejected the claim.
Keul had earlier accused Trump of groping her in November 1993. In interviews quoted in the report, she now says the encounter went further and amounted to rape. On the other hand, Trump has denied wrongdoing.
What the report says
The 53-page document was put together by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. It looks again at sexual misconduct claims against Trump and at his past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
According to the report, Keul said she met Trump at a pageant event at the Plaza Hotel in New York when she was 24. The hotel was owned by Trump then. She said he promised to help her get a visa and a place at New York University, telling her he would look after her.
She said Epstein then came up to her, introduced himself as a close friend of Trump’s and invited her to a party at Mar-a-Lago.
Later, the report says, someone from Trump’s side invited her to meet him upstairs at the hotel. Keul told the committee that Trump grabbed her from behind as she entered, tore her dress and raped her, leaving her with bleeding and bruises. The report says she described the assault as brutal. Afterwards, she said, Trump sat her on the bed, repeated his promises and told her to stay silent because “the show must go on.” The details were first reported by The Telegraph.
White House response
A White House spokesman dismissed the report as a desperate attempt by Democrats to distract the public from what he described as Republican momentum under Trump.
The Epstein connection
Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein long before any criminal suspicions emerged. He resisted the release of the so-called Epstein Files for months, but eventually signed the law passed by Congress that required the Justice Department to publish them. His name appears many times in the documents. He denies any wrongdoing.
What Democrats are asking for
The committee Democrats said Keul’s account matches other public accusations against Trump and points to a pattern. Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, said five women have accused Trump of rape or sexual assault in Epstein’s company or presence. He also accused the Justice Department of covering up crimes to protect the president.
The Democrats want Attorney General Todd Blanche to appoint an independent special counsel. They say the probe should look at Trump and also at everyone who may have helped Epstein. They admitted this is unlikely, since Blanche was once Trump’s personal lawyer. In the report, they accused him of acting as the president’s personal attorney general.
Election angle
The report lands a week before the November 3 elections that will decide who controls Congress. Democrats have reportedly spent more than $35 million on Epstein-related ads in the run-up.
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