Donald Trump accuses Democrats of trying to 'scare' Brett Kavanaugh with new sexual misconduct allegation

Donald Trump accused Democrats of trying to "scare" Brett Kavanaugh, the US Supreme Court justice, into "turning liberal" on Sunday after a further allegation of sexual misconduct emerged.

Justice Kavanaugh, 54, faced a new claim that he exposed himself to a woman at a party while both were students at Yale in the Eighties.

A male fellow student, who said he witnessed the incident, reported it to the FBI and senior US senators last year after Mr Trump nominated Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. However, the allegation was not investigated, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

Last year, Justice Kavanaugh survived a tumultuous confirmation hearing, during which he faced a separate allegation that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl when he was in high school.

The alleged victim, Christine Blasey Ford, now a university professor, gave evidence to the Senate judiciary committee, and Justice Kavanaugh vehemently denied her claims.

His eventual successful confirmation consolidated a conservative majority on America's highest court.

Following the latest allegation Mr Trump said Justice Kavanaugh should sue.

The president wrote on Twitter: "Brett Kavanaugh should start suing people for liable [sic], or the Justice Department should come to his rescue.” Mr Trump later corrected the spelling of "liable" to "libel".

The president added: "The lies being told about him [Justice Kavanaugh] are unbelievable. False Accusations without recrimination. When does it stop? They are trying to influence his opinions. Can’t let that happen!

"He is an innocent man who has been treated HORRIBLY. Such lies about him. They want to scare him into turning Liberal!"

Justice Kavanaugh did not respond to the latest allegation.

Julian Castro, the Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, said the latest allegation "must be investigated," while fellow candidate Kamala Harris, who sat on the Senate judiciary committee during Justice Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, said: "His place on the court is an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice."

The alleged witness who reported the incident claimed to have seen Justice Kavanaugh "with his pants down at a drunken dorm party".

The man, who now runs a non-profit organisation in Washington, has declined to speak publicly about it.