Trump misspells libel in furious outburst over new Brett Kavanaugh sexual assault allegation

President later deleted misspelled tweet, and retweeted with correct spelling

Donald Trump has suggested Brett Kavanaugh sue for "liable" — meaning to say "libel" — after a fresh sexual assault allegation was raised against the Supreme Court justice in the New York Times.

In a series of tweets, Mr Trump accused Democrats and the news media of working to intimidate Mr Kavanaugh with the new allegation, which comes less than a year after similar claims were made during his Senate confirmation hearings. The tweet in which he misspelled "libel" was later deleted, and retweeted with the correct spelling.

The new allegation, in which Mr Kavanaugh was said to have exposed himself to a female Yale classmate before others pushed his genitals into the hands of the woman, has led some to call for the justice's impeachment.

"Brett Kavanaugh should start suing people for liable, or the Justice Department should come to his rescue. The lies being told about him are unbelievable. False Accusations without recrimination. When does it stop? They are trying to influence his opinions. Can’t let that happen!" Mr Trump wrote.

In the United States, proving libel can be incredibly difficult, especially for a public figure at the top of government, like a Supreme Court justice or a US president.

The now-deleted tweet from Mr Trump, in which he misspelled "libel" (Twitter)

In an earlier tweet, Mr Trump also said: "Now the Radical Left Democrats and their Partner, the LameStream Media, are after Brett Kavanaugh again, talking loudly of their favorite word, impeachment. He is an innocent man who has been treated HORRIBLY. Such lies about him. They want to scare him into turning Liberal!"

The new allegations against Mr Kavanaugh were detailed in the New York Times, after two officials with the FBI spoke with that newspaper.

Those officials told the paper that a DC-based non-profit owner named Max Stier, who was also a classmate of Mr Kavanaugh's at Yale, had told the intelligence agency that he witnessed Mr Kavanaugh expose himself to a fellow student in university, before others pushed his genitals into the woman's hands. The action was taken, apparently, without her consent.

Those allegations were apparently brought to the intelligence agency during Mr Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation process last year, but the FBI failed to investigate the matter further. Mr Stier did not come forward publicly at that time.

The newly surfaced allegation has caused the hashtags "#ImpeachKavanaugh" and "#ImpeachKavanaughNow" to trend on Twitter in the United States, with some raising questions about the thoroughness of the initial FBI enquiry after allegations surfaced against Mr Kavanaugh from women like Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez. Ms Blasey Ford, notably, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee to detail her claims against Mr Kavanaugh.