President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed claims of sexual abuse against him as "FAKE NEWS."

He said Democrats were seizing on them as a way to make up for a lack of findings in the Russia investigation.

There are indications, however, that the Russia investigation will produce results in the near future.



President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning that Democrats had turned to promoting "false" and "fabricated" stories against him because the investigation into Russian election meddling had stalled, a claim contradicted by the recent developments in the inquiry.

"Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia - so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don't know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!" Trump tweeted.

Allegations of sexual harassment against Trump were renewed Monday morning following a segment on NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today" in which the host Megyn Kelly interviewed three women who had accused Trump of acting inappropriately toward them.

Trump has categorically denied the accusations, which were in focus at Monday afternoon's White House press briefing.

The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that the allegations had been public before the election and that "the people of this country had a decisive election supported President Trump, and we feel like these allegations have been answered through that process."

But while the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's ties to Russia during last year's presidential campaign is ongoing, several recent developments indicate its pace is only accelerating.

Indictments in October yielded a guilty plea from George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser who admitted to making false statements to the FBI.

Both Papadopoulos and the former national security adviser Mike Flynn appear to be cooperating with Mueller's investigation, which may indicate they're helping to provide information on officials higher up in Trump's political organization.

At the same time, top Democratic senators have called on Trump to resign because of the allegations made against him by 19 women; multiple lawmakers have stepped down recently over accusations of sexual misconduct.

With Trump campaigning for Roy Moore, the Republican US Senate candidate in Alabama who has been accused of sexual misconduct, Democrats may seek to make the issues of sexual harassment and the Russia investigation key pillars of their 2018 campaign, in which they will seek to win back the House and the Senate.