A US Senate committee will investigate fresh allegations of sexual misconduct against the supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh – claims Donald Trump dismissed on Monday as a 'totally political' attempt to stop Republicans cementing a solid conservative majority on the bench. Trump spoke after the New Yorker reported on Sunday evening that a 53-year-old woman, Deborah Ramirez, accused Kavanaugh of thrusting his genitals in her face at a party when they were freshmen at Yale during the 1983-84 academic calendar. Kavanaugh has denied the claim, calling it a 'smear, plain and simple'.

Trump attacks 'totally political' investigation of new Kavanaugh allegations