59 female Democrats call for Trump to be investigated over sexual harassment allegations

17 women have accused the President of sexual misconduct over the last 40 years

Congresswoman Lois Frankel holds a news conference on 12 December calling for the sexual misconduct allegations against US President Donald Trump to be investigated. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Nearly 60 female members of Congress have called for the House to investigate the sexual misconduct allegations against US President Donald Trump.

The Democratic Women's Working Group wrote an open letter to the House Oversight committee after three of the 17 women who have accused Mr Trump of various acts came forward once again with their stories.

"The American people deserve a full inquiry into the truth of these allegations," chairwoman Representative Lois Frankel said in the letter.

Mr Trump and the White House have repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations.

The President has called them “totally fake news”.

“These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year'€™s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgment by delivering a decisive victory,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement, questioning the women's timing and political motives.

The DWWG wrote in its letter to Republican Chair Representative Trey Gowdy and ranking Democrat on the committee Elijah Cummings that: "In the time of 'Me Too,' women across the country are coming forward with their own harrowing stories of sexual harassment and assault. Members of Congress have also come under scrutiny and investigation, with some resigning, for improper sexual conduct. We cannot ignore the multitude of women who have come forward with accusations against Mr. Trump,"

Democratic Senator Al Franken and Congressman John Conyers both resigned recently over several womens’ allegations of harassment and misconduct.

The DWWG also referenced Mr Trump’s tweets and the 2005 “Access Hollywood” audio that surfaced during the 2016 US election during which he spoke derogatorily about grabbing women’s genitals and said “when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything”.

Mr Trump has both apologised publicly for what he called “locker room talk” and recently questioned whether he was actually the person on the audio while “he called all accusers liars,” the DWWG wrote.

“Now let’s try Round 2. The environment is different," Samantha Holvey, a former Miss USA contestant, said on NBC in light of the #metoo social media movement which brought together survivors of harassment and assault just hours before the letter was made public.

The three women had also shared their stories ahead of the 2016 US election as well.

Ms Holvey told NBC that "it hurt" that Mr Trump won after the women came forward before the election about "who this man is and especially how he views women".

Though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million ballots, Mr Trump won the white women demographic across the country.

Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told CNN that Mr Trump should resign over the accusations.

In what appeared to be a response to Ms Gillibrand’s call for him to leave office Mr Trump tweeted on 12 December that she was “someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them).”

Though his tweet did not explicitly state anything sexual, many in Washington have taken that as harassment of Ms Gillibrand.

Representative Jackie Speier, a Democrat, said at a news conference: "what took place this morning when the president tweeted about our colleague, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, is grotesque, it took my breath away and it represents the conduct of a person who is ill-equipped” to serve in the Oval Office.

Ms Gillibrand responded by tweeting that she will not be “silenced” nor will the “millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out” about the “shame” Mr Trump brings to the White House.

Ms Frankel has not yet received a response from Mr Gowdy about whether the committee will launch an investigation.