GOP brass chastise Moore
They call for race exit; fifth woman levels teen sex-advances claim.
WASHINGTON — An Alabama woman accused Roy Moore on Monday of sexually assaulting her when she was 16, the fifth such charge leveled against the Republican Senate candidate, as senior Republicans in Washington called for him to drop out of the race and threatened to expel him from the Senate if he wins.
The new accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, said at a news conference in New York that Moore attacked her when she was 16 and he was a prosecutor in Etowah County, Ala. Nelson was represented at the news conference by Gloria Allred, a New York lawyer who has championed victims of sexual harassment.
“I tried fighting him off, while yelling at him to stop, but instead of stopping, he began squeezing my neck attempting to force my head onto his crotch,” Nelson said in a statement she issued at the news conference. She said Moore warned her that “no one will believe you” if she told anyone about the encounter in his car.
Nelson said that shortly before that, days before Christmas, she’d taken her high school yearbook to a restaurant and Moore signed it. A copy of her statement distributed at the news conference included a picture of what she said was his signature and a message saying, “To a sweeter more beautiful girl I could not say, ‘Merry Christmas.’”
Moore abruptly called a news conference in Gallant, Ala., after Nelson detailed the new allegations.
“I can tell you without hesitation this is absolutely false. I never did what she said I did. I don’t even know the woman,” Moore said.
Even before Allred’s news conference, Moore’s campaign described her as “a sensationalist leading a witch hunt, and she is only around to create a spectacle.” The statement denied again “any sexual misconduct with anyone” by Moore.
Hours earlier, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, said Monday that Moore “should step aside” and that he believes the women who have accused Moore of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers.
“I believe the women, yes,” McConnell said at a news conference in Louisville, Ky.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., agreed with McConnell. “He should withdraw from the race,” Boozman said through a spokesman.
Although it is too late to remove Moore’s name from the ballot before the Dec. 12 special election in Alabama, McConnell said he is exploring the option of a write-in campaign by Sen. Luther Strange, whom Moore defeated in the primary, or another Republican.
But Strange told reporters late Monday “a write-in candidacy is highly unlikely.”
“I made my case during the election,” Strange said. “So now, it’s really going to be up to the people of our state to sort this out.”
Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, speaking in his role as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said if Moore wins in the special election, he should be expelled from the Senate, “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
Moore, a judge who was twice removed from the state’s high court, first for refusing to remove the Ten Commandments from the Supreme Court grounds, then for refusing to accept same-sex marriage, responded defiantly. He showed no sign of leaving the race.
Republicans have been up in arms over the accusations, published last week in The Washington Post, that Moore pursued sexual or romantic relationships with teenagers when he was in his 30s. The reports have upended a race in a state that has not elected a Democratic senator in 25 years.
The Post reported that Leigh Corfman alleged that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 and Moore was a 32-yearold assistant district attorney. Moore has denied the allegations and has vowed to continue his campaign.
Moore showed no signs Monday that he was preparing to bow out of the race. He wrote on social media that McConnell is the one “who should step aside” and that he has “failed conservatives.”
In a fundraising appeal, Moore reached out to his supporters with the subject line: “Mitch McConnell’s plot to destroy me.”
“Apparently Mitch McConnell and the establishment GOP would rather elect a radical pro-abortion Democrat than a conservative Christian,” he wrote.
Republican officials spent much of the weekend trying to determine what, if anything, they could do to halt Moore without surrendering the seat. If Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee, wins, it would narrow the Republican advantage in the Senate to a single seat.
One idea being discussed, brought up by two different White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, would be for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to run as either a write-in candidate or to be appointed to what was his seat should Moore win and be immediately removed from office.
McConnell is supportive of the idea and discussed it Monday in a telephone call with Vice President Mike Pence that was chiefly about the Republican tax overhaul proposal, according to party officials briefed on the call.