Donald Trump Accuser’s Claim About Plane’s Armrest Confirmed As True
Donald Trump accuser Jessica Leeds has claimed that the GOP presidential nominee groped her when she sat next to him on a flight back in 1979 from Dallas to New York City. She alleges that Trump reached underneath her skirt and continued to touch her inappropriately. The Trump campaign refuted her claims by stating that the center armrest was fixed, unable to lift up.
The Donald Trump accuser is right about this part of her story because it’s confirmed as true based off information from a reliable source.
Leeds was allegedly on the same Braniff Airways flight as Trump when she was moved from coach to first class. The founder of the airline, Ben Cass, told TMZ that the Donald Trump accuser is correct in that the plane they flew on had armrests passengers could remove. Leeds did say the plane was a 707, but Cass said that model wasn’t in service from Dallas to NYC in 1979. The aircraft was a Boeing 727, which had armrests attached by pegs. It took seconds to remove the console by pulling it vertically.
Donald Trump — Accuser’s Story of ‘Disappearing’ Airplane Armrest Rings True (PHOTOS) https://t.co/FDdqrGUxgi
— TMZ (@TMZ) October 15, 2016
TMZ also obtained the Braniff International Flight Attendant Manual and posted a photo of the armrest description.
“Arm Rests – the arm rests in first class are removable by pulling up. In tourist the arm rests must be lowered into the stowed position on the center seat in order to prevent fraying on the side of the seat back. If the arm rests are not lowered, the side of the seat back would rest on top of the ashtray and eventually damage the seat cover.”
This has been the “smoking gun” evidence that the Trump campaign has argued against Leeds. This part of her story has been confirmed as true.
Donald Trump has sworn off all of his sexual assault accusers as liars. He expressed open disdain over Jessica Leeds’ allegations, insisting she wasn’t an attractive enough woman for him to consider making any kind of move on her.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson told CNN that first class seats had fixed armrests back then.
“First class seats have fixed armrests. So what I can tell you if she was groped on a plane, it wasn’t by Donald Trump and it certainly wasn’t in first class,” Pierson said.
Pierson has also listed certain types of aircraft didn’t fly into NYC at the time in question.
According to Bustle, aviation experts have called out Pierson for being inaccurate.
“I don’t fully understand where she got that information, but that is simply incorrect,” said Phil Derner Jr., founder of NYCAviation, a website for airplane enthusiasts. This was reference to Pierson’s claims that some airplanes didn’t fly into NYC.
A report by CNN also supports the Donald Trump accuser’s claims that armrests were removable on the plane. It backed up Ben Cass’ verification of the story in which the Boeing 727 had armrests that could be pulled up. It went on to reveal that leather first class seats were outfitted with the removable center armrest for cleaning or “for a passenger that wanted to stretch across the seat,” Cass said.
The Braniff founder said the armrests were typically removed by a flight attendant, but were also removed by knowledgeable passengers.
Braniff Airways shut down operations in 1982.
#DonaldTrump says female accusers are liars, not attractive, and in cahoots with #HillaryClinton https://t.co/22cY3CZnQh
— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) October 14, 2016
Jessica Leeds is just one of several Donald Trump accusers who’ve come forward claiming the Republican presidential nominee violated them. He has vehemently denied all accusations calling them “fabricated” and “outright lies.”
[Featured Image by Kena Betancur/Getty Images]
