Brooklyn Candidate Accuses Netanyahu Spokesman Of Sexual Assault

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK -- Brooklyn State Senate candidate Julia Salazar said she was sexually assaulted by one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top spokesmen hours before a conservative news site "outed" her as his alleged victim.

Salazar, the Democratic socialist hoping to represent north Brooklyn in 2019, took to Twitter Tuesday afternoon to accuse David Keyes of assaulting her hours before the Daily Caller could publish an article she described as "an effort to cast doubt" on her allegations.

“I’ve spoken to other journalists who were investigating accusations against David Keyes on background about this experience, but have never spoken on the record about it until now,” Salazar wrote. "I strongly believe sexual assault survivors should not be outed in this way."

Salazar's spokesman later told Gothamist she released the statement because of concerns about what writers from the far-right political website would report.

"We're absolutely disgusted that right-wing media would use Julia's victimization as a political tool," said Salazar's deputy campaign manager Michael Kinnucan.

Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Christopher Bedford responded, "I think our reporting largely stands for itself."

Keyes, 34, who could not immediately be reached for comment, serves as an adviser to the Prime Minister and was previously accused of sexual assault in April 2016.

Daily Caller reported that, according to a nameless source, the anonymous accusation — which were detailed in The Times of Israel and denied at the time by Keyes — came from the 27-year-old Democratic candidate.

"Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s new spokesperson, is an American who sexually assaults women," the woman wrote in a Facebook post which was later deleted. "I’m here to tell you this from firsthand experience."

Kinnucan told Gothamist that Salazar deleted the post in 2016 because a friend had sent a screenshot of her post to a journalist. Kinnucan told Gothamist, "[Salazar] felt betrayed and scared of retaliation."

Header photo by Kathleen Culliton