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Clinton aims to gain seats for party

She gains momentum as Trump accusations continue to mount

By JULIE PACE and KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press
Published: October 12, 2016, 9:57pm
2 Photos
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets a member of the audience after  speaking at a rally at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets a member of the audience after speaking at a rally at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Photo Gallery

PUEBLO, Colo. — Hillary Clinton turned up the heat Wednesday on Republican candidates who are facing both tight election races and tough decisions on what to do about Donald Trump. She’s seeking to spread her momentum to fellow Democrats on November ballots.

The move came on a day that ended with new allegations — piling onto already damaging revelations of Trump’s aggressive sexual comments about women.

Two newspapers reported late Wednesday that Trump’s actions went beyond words. The New York Times published interviews with two women who said they were touched inappropriately by the billionaire without their permission. The Times said Jessica Leeds, 74, of New York told the newspaper she encountered Trump on an airline flight three decades ago. Leeds said Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt.

“He was like an octopus,” she told the newspaper. “His hands were everywhere.”

Rachel Crooks of Ohio said she met Trump at Trump Tower in 2005. Age 22 at the time, Crooks said Trump kissed her “directly on the mouth” against her will.

Trump denied the accusations, telling the Times, “None of this ever took place.” His campaign spokesman, Jason Miller, called the story “a completely false, coordinated character assassination.”

Separately, The Palm Beach Post in Florida reported Wednesday night that Mindy McGillivray, 36, told the newspaper that Trump groped her at his Mar-a-Lago estate 13 years ago. Trump’s campaign said her allegation “lacks any merit or veracity.”

And late Wednesday, People magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff posted a story about a 2005 incident at Mar-a-Lago where, she wrote, Trump “was pushing me against the wall, and forcing his tongue down my throat.” The Trump campaign also said there was “no merit or veracity” to Stoynoff’s story.

The reports came as two GOP senators and two House members who called for Trump to step aside over the weekend climbed back aboard. Their basic case: They’re voting for a Republican next month, and if Trump isn’t leaving then he’s got to be the one.

John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate told the Rapid City Journal he had “reservations about the way (Trump) has conducted his campaign and himself.” However, he said, “I’m certainly not going to vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Also back on board after calling on Trump to resign: Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Reps. Scott Garrett of New Jersey and Bradley Byrne of Alabama. There still are some three dozen GOP lawmakers who have withdrawn their support or are calling for him to step aside.

Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri issued a statement: about the New York Times story, saying it “sadly fits everything we know about the way Donald Trump has treated women.”

But Clinton made only brief reference to Trump’s comments about women — noting the Republicans’ dismissal — and did not address the new allegations.

She spent Wednesday trying to float above the fray, warning voters in Colorado and Nevada not to be turned off by the “pure negativity” coming from her opponent.

Clinton’s campaign had signaled she would go even harder on Republicans, but after news of the allegations, Clinton demurred. She continued to make newly prominent and explicit pitches for congressional candidates in tight races, including Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy and Nevada Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto.

Trump kept up his denunciations of Clinton at a rally in Florida. It’s not enough for voters to elect him instead of her, he declared, “She has got to go to jail.”

The focus on Republican congressional candidates is the latest sign the Clinton campaign is moving past a narrow focus on winning the White House, and now is aiming to win big — by delivering the Senate to Democrats, making deep cuts into the Republicans’ majority in the House and, possibly, winning states long considered Republican territory.

“We are competing everywhere. … I think Americans want to turn out in as big a number as possible” to reject Trump’s message, Clinton said.

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