Update 3:15 p.m. Dec. 11: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied the allegations levied against President Donald Trump in a news briefing Monday, telling reporters that the president has "addressed these accusations directly and denied all of these allegations."
"The American people knew this and voted for the president, and we feel like we're ready to move forward," she said. "This took place long before he was elected to be president and the people of this country had a decisive election."
Original report: At least four women who have accused President Donald Trump of sexual harassment called on Monday for a congressional investigation into Trump's behavior, pointing to recent investigations announced into lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct.
Rachel Crooks, Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Lisa Boyne were among the more than a dozen women who accused Trump of sexual harassment in the run-up to last year’s election.
“They’ve investigated other Congress members, so I think it only stands fair that (Trump) be investigated as well,” Holvey said Monday at a news conference. “I think also a nonpartisan investigation is very important, not just for him but for anybody that has allegations against them. This isn’t a partisan issue. This is how women are treated every day.”
In a statement, White House officials dismissed the accusations as false and politically motivated.
>> Related: Who is accusing Trump of sexual misconduct?
Leeds said she was motivated to speak out again in the wake of recent allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
“In some areas, the accusations of sexual aggression were being taken seriously. People were being held accountable. Except for our president,” Leeds said. “In fact, his staff made a big point of calling us all liars.”
Earlier on Monday, Crooks, Leeds and Holvey appeared on “Megyn Kelly Today” to share their stories.
Leeds said she shared her story because she "wanted people to know what kind of person he is.” Holvey said his election despite the allegations against him made Trump’s inauguration day particularly difficult.
“It was like the entire country said, ‘Meh, we don’t care that he’s like this,’” she said.
Holvey, a former Miss USA contestant, told CNN last year that Trump inspected each woman during an event in New York City in the month before the contest.
"He would step in front of each girl and look you over from head to toe like we were just meat; we were just sexual objects; that we were not people," Holvey told CNN. "You know when a gross guy at the bar is checking you out? It's that feeling."
Crooks told The New York Times that she shook hands when she met Trump while working for a firm in Manhattan's Trump Tower in 2005. Crooks, then 22, said he wouldn't let go of her hand, kissed her cheeks, then kissed her "directly on the mouth."
>> Related: Rep. John Conyers announces retirement in wake of sexual harassment allegations
"It was so inappropriate," she told the Times. "I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that."
Leeds told The New York Times that Trump put his hands up her skirt after meeting her on a plane in the early 1980s.
"He was like an octopus," she said. "His hands were everywhere."
Boyne told The Huffington Post that Trump made models walk on a table during a dinner in New York in 1996.
She told the news site Trump “stuck his head right underneath their skirts” and made crude comments about their underwear and genitalia.
In a statement released Monday, White House officials called the accusations false.
“The American people voiced their judgment by delivering a decisive victory (last year),” the statement said. “The timing and absurdity of these false claims speaks volumes and the publicity tour that has begun only further confirms the political motives behind them.”
Crooks called the White House statement “laughable.”
“I think, if they were willing to investigate Sen. (Al) Franken, I think it’s only fair that they do the same for Trump,” Crooks said.
>> Related: Al Franken will resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct
Franken announced last week that he plans to resign in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct levied against him by several women. The Minnesota Democrat was accused of groping women as they posed for photos with him and forcibly kissing at least two women.
He is one of three lawmakers who have announced their intention to leave office in weeks amid sexual misconduct scandals.
Rep. John Conyers, the longest-serving member of Congress, submitted his resignation last week after he was accused of sexually harassing several women who worked for him. Conyers, D-Michigan, denied the allegations but said he decided to retire because of health concerns. The 88-year-old congressman was hospitalized in Michigan earlier this month.
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Arizona, said last week that he plans to resign from his seat by the end of January after the House Ethics Committee announced it was investigating allegations of sexual harassment levied against him by his former employees.
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