Senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway says: 'I'm the victim of sexual assault'

Kellyanne Conway, one of Donald Trump’s most senior advisers, has revealed that she was the victim of sexual assault and insisted that women who survive such experiences should be heard.

"I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment and rape," Kellyanne Conway told CNN as she defended the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault by one woman and sexual misconduct by two other women.

"I'm a victim of sexual assault," she said, without revealing details, although the 51-year-old has previously hinted that she was molested by a congressman.

Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination has been held up after Mr Trump ordered the FBI to look into the sexual assault allegations against him.

In an earlier confirmation hearing watched by millions around the world, Dr Christine Blasey Ford testified before a Senate panel that Judge Kavanaugh drunkenly forced her down onto a bed during a house party in 1982 in Maryland.

Groping her, he attempted to remove her clothes, and held his hand over her mouth so that she could not scream for help, she said. His friend Mark Judge, was in the room at the time, she added.

In his own appearance before the committee, Judge Kavanaugh repeated his categorical denial about the incident.

A second woman, Deborah Ramirez, now 53, has also claimed that Judge Kavnaaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm party when they were students at Yale University. In a statement, he said the incident “did not happen”.

Julie Swetnick has also claimed that she witnessed Judge Kavanaugh and Mr Judge, attempt to get teenage girls “inebriated and disoriented so they could then be ‘gang raped’ in a side room or bedroom by a ‘train’ of numerous boys”.

She said that she was the victim of one of those gang rapes, but did not single the pair out as her assailants.

Ms Conway suggested that the ire of many victims was improperly pointed at Republican supporters of Kavanaugh, as opposed to the perpetrators of the assaults.

"It's not a meeting of the #MeToo movement," she said referring to the social media hashtag which has seen women share their stories of sexual misconduct. "It's raw partisan politics."

She added: "I'm a victim of sexual assault. I don't expect Judge Kavanaugh, or Jake Tapper, or Jeff Flake, or anybody, to be held responsible for that. You have to be responsible for your own conduct," she added.

"We do treat people differently who are either the victims or the perpetrators of this based on their politics now, based on their gender. That is a huge mistake."

Although she did not say who sexually assaulted her, Ms Ms Conway raised the issue during Mr Trump's election campaign, as she defended him in an interview with cable channel MSNBC about his record in dealing with women.

"I would talk to some of the members of Congress out there," she said. "When I was younger and prettier, them rubbing up against girls, sticking their tongues down women's throats, uninvited, who didn't like it."