US election: Trump appears with Bill Clinton accusers

Ahead of the US presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump has appeared with women who accuse Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct.

He joined three women who allege the former president sexually assaulted them and a fourth whose rapist was defended by his rival Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Trump, under fire for making obscene comments about women in a 2005 video, called the women "very courageous".

He made the appearance in a Facebook Live event an hour before the debate.

Mrs. Clinton called the move an "act of desperation".

The debate at Washington University in St Louis begins at 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT).

Mr. Trump appeared with Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee who settled a sexual harassment suit against Mr Clinton for $850,000 in 1999 with no admission of guilt.

Juanita Broaddrick, who claimed Mr Clinton raped her in a hotel room in 1978, also appeared with Mr Trump.

Mr. Clinton has denied the claim through his lawyer and no charges have ever been brought against his for the allegation.

The third woman was Kathleen Willey, a former White House aide who said Mr Clinton groped her in his office in 1993, but had previously said it never happened.

Mr. Clinton has also denied this claim.

Kathy Shelton, the fourth woman who spoke, encountered Mrs Clinton in a criminal case when she was 12 years old.

Early in Mrs Clinton's legal career, she was appointed to defend Ms Shelton's rapist, despite objections, and had his sentence reduced to a lesser charge.

Years later, an audio tape emerged of Mrs Clinton discussing speaking with a reporter, in which she can be heard laughing about the case,

During one instance, she laughed after explaining that her client had passed a lie detector test, which convinced her to never trust them again.




SOURCE: BBC News