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A Fifth Woman Accuses Senate Candidate Roy Moore of Sexual Misconduct Fifth Woman Accuses Senate Candidate Roy Moore of Sexual Misconduct
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — A fifth woman accused Roy S. Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, on Monday of making sexual or romantic advances toward her when she was a teenager, 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. WASHINGTON — An Alabama woman accused Roy S. 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 are now openly discussing not seating him or expelling him if he wins the Dec. 12 special election.
The new accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, told a news conference in New York that Mr. Moore attacked her when she was 16 and he was a prosecutor in Etowah County, Ala. Ms. Nelson was represented at the news conference by Gloria Allred, a lawyer who has championed victims of sexual harassment. The new accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, told a packed news conference in New York that Mr. Moore attacked her when she was a teenager and he was a prosecutor in Etowah County, Ala. Ms. 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,” Ms. Nelson said in a statement she issued at the news conference. She said Mr. Moore warned her that “no one will believe you” if she told anyone about the encounter in his car. “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,” Ms. Nelson said, growing emotional as she described the assault, which she said happened one night after her shift ended at a local restaurant, where she was a waitress.
Hours earlier, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, said Mr. Moore “should step aside” and that he believes the women who have accused Mr. Moore of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers. She said that Mr. Moore warned her that “no one will believe you” if she told anyone about the encounter in his car.
“I believe the women, yes,” Mr. McConnell said at a news conference in Louisville. Ms. Allred displayed a yearbook that Ms. Nelson said had been signed by Mr. Moore, and the writing mirrored other examples of Mr. Moore’s signature.
Mr. McConnell also said that encouraging a write-in candidate to run in the Dec. 12 special election is “an option we’re looking at.” Even before Ms. Allred’s news conference, Mr. 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 Mr. Moore.
Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, speaking in his role as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that if Mr. Moore wins the special election on Dec. 12, he should be expelled from the Senate, “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.” But in Washington, those denials were increasingly dismissed. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, declared, “I believe the women.” Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, the head of the Senate Republican campaign arm, said that 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.”
Mr. 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 gay marriage, responded defiantly. He showed no sign of leaving the race ahead of Alabama’s Dec. 12 special election date. 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.
In an afternoon statement, Mr. Moore’s campaign described Ms. Allred as “a sensationalist leading a witch hunt, and she is only around to create a spectacle.” The statement, issued before Ms. Allred’s news conference in New York, denied again “any sexual misconduct with anyone” by Mr. Moore. “It’s drip by drip, cut by cut,” said Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the state’s senior lawmaker. “It doesn’t look good.”
Republicans here and in Alabama have been up in arms over the accusations, published last week in The Washington Post, that Mr. 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. Mr. Moore responded with fury, not only refusing to quit the race but stating that the person who needed to step aside was Mr. McConnell.
In a fund-raising appeal, Mr. Moore reached out to his supporters with the subject line: “Mitch McConnell’s plot to destroy me.” “He has failed conservatives and must be replaced,” said Mr. Moore in a statement, appending President Trump’s trademark: “#draintheswamp.”
“Apparently Mitch McConnell and the establishment G.O.P. would rather elect a radical pro-abortion Democrat than a conservative Christian,” he wrote. Publicly, Mr. McConnell, appearing at a news conference in Louisville, said he was “looking at” drafting a write-in candidate for the Dec. 12 special election. Privately, Mr. McConnell was doing more than merely looking. One idea being discussed, first brought up by two different White House officials who spoke on the 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 Mr. Moore win and be immediately removed from office.
And Mr. Moore’s wife, Kayla Moore, lashed out in a Facebook post on Monday, complaining about “a witch hunt” in Alabama and claiming that “we are gathering evidence of money being paid to people who would come forward.” Mr. McConnell is supportive of the idea and discussed it on 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. Mr. Sessions remains popular among Alabama Republicans, but his relationship with Mr. Trump has frayed since he recused himself from the investigation of the role that Russia played in last year’s presidential campaign.
“Washington establishment and Democrat Party will stop at nothing to stop our campaign,” she wrote. “Prayers appreciated.....” The swap would be something of a win-win for Mr. McConnell and Mr. Trump — the senator is eager to rid himself of Mr. Moore and the president has been open about his disappointment with Mr. Sessions.
But with Mr. McConnell now firmly against his election, Mr. Moore and his candidacy promise to deepen the divide between Republican leaders in Congress and the populist wing of the party that is standing by the Alabamian. Another Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, also called for Mr. Moore to drop out of the race on Monday. That they even discussed such a radical maneuver spoke to the desperate straits that Republicans find themselves in. If Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee, wins, it would narrow the Republican advantage in the Senate to a single seat.
Anxious Republican officials spent much of the weekend trying to determine what, if anything, they could do to halt Mr. Moore without simply turning over the seat. 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 Mr. Moore from their ranks.
But if Mr. Moore stays in and goes on to win, it could leave Senate Republicans with the difficult question of whether to stop him from being seated or seating him and immediately moving to expel him from the chamber. Should Mr. 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 Mr. Moore and his fitness to serve.
One idea now being discussed under this scenario, brought up by two different White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, would be for Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama to immediately appoint Attorney General Jeff Sessions to what had been his seat when it becomes vacant again. Mr. Sessions remains highly popular among Alabama Republicans, but his relationship with President Trump has waned since he recused himself from the investigation of the role that Russia played in last year’s campaign. 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.
Republicans in Washington, though, have not ruled out fielding a write-in candidate and some of the party’s outside groups were expected to conduct surveys this week of who would be most formidable prospect, according to officials familiar with the plans. For their part, Alabama Republicans are warning of the perils of barring Mr. Moore from the Senate. A write-in campaign, they suggested, would prove fruitless and perhaps help the Democrat, while a move to block or expel Mr. Moore would further the poison the relationship between the Republican Party’s leaders and its populist wing.
Democrats, who have been restrained about their prospects in such a conservative state, said that if additional women like the one joining Ms. Allred tell their stories, it would undermine Mr. Moore’s case that he is being smeared in a single newspaper article. “If the people of this state go forward and select their U.S. senator as Roy Moore, it will be because there is a deep suspicion of what has been coined as the establishment in D.C.,” said State Senator Phil Williams, whose district includes Mr. Moore’s home county. “And if the establishment then chooses and tries to unseat, or in some way disavow, that candidate, it will create a backlash the likes of which the party has never seen before.”
Democrats, who have been restrained about their prospects in such a conservative state, tried to avoid inserting themselves into the Republican crossfire. But, they said, as more information comes out, Mr. Moore’s case that he is being smeared in a single newspaper article will crumble. By Monday night, an article in The New Yorker asserted that Mr. Moore had been banned from the mall in his hometown, Gadsden, for bothering young women, a memory that many in town said they shared, though no one has found direct evidence.
“The more people that come out of the woodwork, the more women with similar stories, the more credible it becomes,” said Zac McCrary, an Alabama-based Democratic pollster. “It’s going to become easier to see through Roy Moore’s non-denial denials.”“The more people that come out of the woodwork, the more women with similar stories, the more credible it becomes,” said Zac McCrary, an Alabama-based Democratic pollster. “It’s going to become easier to see through Roy Moore’s non-denial denials.”
Democrats have begun raising money in earnest for Mr. Jones, a former prosecutor who sent Ku Klux Klansmen to jail for the infamous Birmingham church bombing of 1963 that killed four young girls. Mr. Jones is also 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 Senator Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, according to an invitation circulating among Democratic lobbyists.
At the news conference in New York, Ms. Nelson grew emotional as she described the assault, which she said happened one night after her shift ended at a local restaurant, where she was a waitress. Her boyfriend was late that night to pick her up after work, she said, and Mr. Moore offered her a ride home. Ms. Nelson said that instead of driving her home, Mr. Moore drove to the back of the restaurant, parked his vehicle and forced himself on her. Mr. Jones has been raising substantial money out-of-state — Senator 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 Mr. Moore won the nomination in September while the Republican has spent only about $300,000 on ads, according to strategists tracking the race.
Ms. Allred displayed a yearbook she and Ms. Nelson said is signed by Mr. Moore. The attorney said that Ms. Nelson contacted her to “enlist my help and support in coming forward publicly” following the allegations by other accusers. Ms. Allred said that her law firm spoke to Ms. Nelson’s mother and sister, who verified the story. Mr. Moore, because of his statewide fame, has never had to raise much money. But now that he is fighting for his political life, he urgently needs to recast the race to focus on some of Mr. Jones’s liberal views on guns and abortion rights.
The New York Times has not independently spoken to the family. Ms. Allred said that Ms. Nelson is willing to testify under oath. But he may not have the money to mount any such assault and, with his party leaders shunning him, it is not clear who will fill the gap. Mr. Moore tried one approach Monday afternoon: trying to tap into the grass-roots loathing on the right toward Mr. McConnell.
Ms. Nelson said that she and her husband supported President Trump during the 2016 election, an attempt to neutralize arguments that she is making the claims for political reasons. Ms. Allred also pre-empted attacks that she is acting with partisan interests. “Mitch McConnell’s plot to destroy me,” Mr. Moore wrote in the subject line of a fund-raising email.
“Apparently Mitch McConnell and the establishment G.O.P. would rather elect a radical pro-abortion Democrat than a conservative Christian,” he added.