GOP leaders pressure Moore to quit Senate race
Fifth accuser steps forward, claims he assaulted her when she was 16
WASHINGTON — An Alabama woman accused Roy Moore on Monday of sexually assaulting her when she was 16, the fifth and most brutal charge leveled against the Republican Senate candidate. Senate Republicans now are openly discussing not seating him or expelling him if he wins the Dec. 12 special election.
The new accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, told a packed news conference in New York that Moore attacked her when she was a teenager and he was a pros-
ecutor in Etowah County, Ala. Nelson was represented at the news conference by Gloria Allred, a 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, growing emotional as she described the alleged assault, which she said happened one night after her shift ended at a local restaurant where she was a waitress.
She said that Moore warned her that “no one will believe you” if she told anyone about the encounter in his car.
Allred displayed a yearbook that Nelson said had been signed by Moore, and the writing mirrored other examples of Moore’s signature.
Moore denies allegations
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.
But in Washington, those denials were increasingly dismissed. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, declared, “I believe the women.” Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, head of the Senate Republican campaign arm, said the Senate should vote to expel the former state Supreme Court judge if he wins “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
The day’s events seemed to harden the resolve of Senate Republicans to avert what they fear would be a nightmare scenario going into next year’s midterm elections: being associated with an alleged child predator.
“It’s drip by drip, cut by cut,” said Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the state’s senior lawmaker. “It doesn’t look good.”
Moore responded with fury, not only refusing to quit but saying that the person who needed to step aside was McConnell.
“He has failed conservatives and must be replaced,” Moore said in a statement, appending President Donald Trump’s trademark: “.drain the swamp.”
Publicly, McConnell, appearing at a news conference in Louisville, Ky., said he was “looking at” drafting a write-in candidate for the Dec. 12 special election. Privately, McConnell was doing more than merely looking.
One idea being discussed 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.
Sessions remains popular among Alabama Republicans, but his relationship with Trump has frayed since he recused himself from the investigation of the role that Russia played in last year’s presidential campaign.
The swap would be something of a win-win for McConnell and Trump — the senator is eager to rid himself of Moore, and the president has been open about his disappointment with Sessions.
That they even discussed such a radical maneuver spoke to the desperate straits that Republicans are in. If Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee, wins, it would narrow the Republican advantage in the Senate to a single seat.
But Republicans increasingly believe that enduring such a narrow majority may be a price they are willing to pay if it means keeping Moore from their ranks.
Should Moore prevail, Republicans believe the debate over whether he should be allowed to take and keep his seat could drag on for months. The Republicans’ legislative agenda, including on taxes, already faces uncertain prospects and could be swallowed in a maelstrom of controversy around Moore and his fitness to serve.
Looking down the road
The implications for the 2018 elections could be even graver, Republicans fear, with several party strategists predicting that Democrats would brand them as the party of child sex abuse.
Jones is quietly benefiting from the support of national liberals. He is in Washington on Tuesday for a $500 per-person cocktail reception co-sponsored by a raft of well-known Democrats, including Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, according to an invitation circulating among Democratic lobbyists.
Jones has been raising substantial money out-of-state — Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut helped him bring in $125,000 with a single email and handful of tweets — and has had Alabama’s airwaves nearly to himself in recent weeks: he has aired nearly $2 million worth of commercials since Moore won the nomination in September while the Republican has spent only about $300,000 on ads, according to strategists tracking the race.