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ByStevePeoples and Jonathan Lemire The Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. Donald Trump heatedly rejected new allegations of sexual assault as "pure fic- tion" on Thursday, ham- mering his female accus- ers as "horrible, horrible liars" as the already-nasty 2016 presidential campaign sank further into charges and countercharges of at- tacks on women. Campaign foe Hillary Clinton was mostly silent on the issue. But Trump faced a passionate rebuke from first lady Michelle Obama, who warned that his behavior "is not some- thing we can ignore." After years of working to end "this kind of vio- lence and abuse and dis- respect ... we're hearing these exact same things on the campaign trail. We are drowning in it," Obama de- clared in battleground New Hampshire, her voice crack- ing with emotion. "We can't expose our children to this any longer, not for another minute, let alone for four years." With Election Day less than four weeks away, Re- publican Trump was again forced to defend himself against allegations of sex- ual misconduct, five days after a video surfaced in which he bragged about kissing and groping women without their permission. Similar behavior was de- tailed by women who ac- cused Trump in articles published late Wednesday by The New York Times and the Palm Beach Post. Separately, a People Mag- azine reporter offered a first-person account accus- ing Trump of attacking her while she was in Florida to interview him and his preg- nant wife. Ever defiant, the New York billionaire denied the allegations and blamed them on Hillary Clinton's campaign and the com- plicit news media as he campaigned in Florida. He promised to sue his media critics and said he was pre- paring evidence that would discredit his female accus- ers, whom he called "horri- ble people. They're horrible, horrible liars." "These vicious claims about me, of inappropriate conduct with women, are totally and absolutely false. And the Clintons know it," he charged. He offered no evidence discrediting the new reports except to ask why his accusers had waited years and then made their allegations less than a month before the election. His comments came soon after he called a reporter "a sleazebag" for asking whether Trump had ever touched or groped a woman without her consent. Trump's attacks on his accusers' credibility marked an awkward break from campaign manager, Kelly- anne Conway, who earlier in the week highlighted a Clinton tweet that said "ev- ery survivor of sexual as- sault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported." Conway hoped to encour- age more women to come forward with allegations against Bill Clinton, build- ing on the campaign's Sun- day decision to bring three of the former president's ac- cusers to the second presi- dential debate. The Repub- lican nominee is expected to promote the women on stage during upcoming ral- lies and in television inter- views, according to a per- son briefed on the plan but not authorized to discuss it publicly. They were not on stage with him on Thursday in West Palm Beach, the first of three public appearances scheduled for the day. Republican leaders across the country said they were deeply troubled by the allegations against Trump, but there was no evidence of new defections. Over the weekend, dozens of Re- publican senators and con- gressmen vowed they would not vote for him, with many calling on him to step aside. The real estate mogul has repeatedly insisted this week that Hillary Clin- ton needs to be imprisoned. "Honestly, she should be locked up," he told cheering Florida supporters Thurs- day. For Trump, however, the cumulative effect appears to be a tumble in the bat- tleground states he needs to win in November. What was already a narrow path to the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory has virtually disappeared unless there's a significant shake-up before Nov. 8. 2016 CAMPAIGN Trump lashes assault accusers as 'horrible, horrible liars' EVANVUCCI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at the South Florida Fairgrounds and Convention Center, on Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. By Matthew Daly The Associated Press WASHINGTON Hillary Clin- ton's campaign tried to move the Illinois presiden- tial primary to a later date, saying a contest held after the Super Tuesday prima- ries might stop momentum for a moderate Republican candidate and emphasizing that Clinton and her hus- band "won't forget" a polit- ical favor, emails made pub- lic on Thursday show. A November 2014 email hacked from the accounts of Clintoncampaignchairman John Podesta was among nearly 2,000 new emails published by the anti-se- crecy group WikiLeaks. The email, from Clinton's future campaign manager Robby Mook to Podesta, said Obama administration of- ficials should use their con- nections in the president's home state to try to push back the March 15 Illinois primary by at least a month. "The overall goal is to move the IL primary out of mid-March, where they are currently a lifeline to a moderate Republican candidate after the mostly southern Super Tuesday," Mook wrote. "IL was a key early win for (GOP pres- idential candidate Mitt) Romney" in 2012. While the request would come from Obama, the president and former Illi- nois senator, "the key point is that this is not an Obama ask, but a Hillary ask," Mook said. "The Clintons won't for- get what their friends have done for them," he added. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clin- ton, famously gave special attention to allies consid- ered "friends of Bill." Clinton's campaign said the FBI was investigat- ing who hacked Podesta's email. Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine told ABC's "The View" Thursday that the FBI and director of national intelligence have said "the Russian govern- ment is behind" the hack, adding that "anybody that would hack to try to desta- bilize an election, you can't automatically assume that everything in all of these documents are even real." Questions were raised on social media about the speed with which Russia Today, a news site funded by the Russian government, tweeted about Podesta's e- mails, the latest in a series of hacked emails published by WikiLeaks. The group said the e-mails were visible on its website "well before" it started tweeting them. RT dismissed the ques- tions as conspiracy theories. "We were fastest on #Pod- estaemails6, faster than @ wikileaks, and the US con- spiracy machine can't han- dle it," the network said in a tweet. The Illinois legislature moved up the 2008 primary to benefit its favorite son, then-Sen. Barack Obama, in his bid for the White House. The primary was held in early February that year to give Illinois more influence, but then moved back to its traditional date in mid-March. This year the primary was held as scheduled on March 15. Clinton won the Democratic primary, while Donald Trump won the Re- publican contest. POLITICS Email: Clinton campaign tried to move back Illinois presidential primary STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! GreenMountainGrills & Accessories Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. 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