WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (all times local):
8:30 p.m.
Alabama Republican Roy Moore’s campaign is going on the offensive against the media and one of the women who accused him of sexual misconduct.
Moore’s campaign has issued a Monday night statement questioning the account of Beverly Nelson, who said Moore assaulted her when she was a 16-year-old waitress. The campaign is quoting two restaurant employees who did not remember Nelson or Moore eating there.
Six women have accused Moore of pursuing romantic relationships with them when they were teenagers. Two have accused him of assault or molestation.
The campaign says voters will “see through the fake news.”
Moore’s campaign did not respond to Leigh Corfman’s Monday interview with NBC’s “Today,” in which she said Moore molested her when she was 14.
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4:25 p.m.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says the White House position on embattled Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore hasn’t changed, and Alabama voters should decide his fate.
Her comments follow White House counselor Kellyanne Conway’s assertion Monday morning that a vote for Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, would be a “vote against tax cuts.”
Sanders says, “Obviously, the president wants people both in the House and the Senate who support his agenda.”
Many national Republicans have called on Moore to step aside in the wake of multiple sexual assault and harassment allegations. Trump has not followed suit, but through spokespeople has called the allegations troubling.
Sanders says, “We feel like the people of Alabama should make the determination on who their next senator should be.”
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8 a.m.
Leigh Corfman says she was “absolutely not” paid to speak publicly now about her sexual encounter with Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore when she was 14.
Corfman was the first woman to publicly accuse Moore of sexual misconduct since his GOP nomination to Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat. Moore has denied the allegations.
Corfman tells NBC’s “Today Show” Monday that she decided against going public previously because she was afraid that her children would be shunned in Alabama, where Moore became a state judge.
Corfman says she agreed to share details only after The Washington Post sought her out and gave her assurances she wasn’t the only one accusing Moore of misconduct. She tells NBC, “my bank account has not flourished. If anything it’s gone down because I’m not working.”
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7:35 a.m.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is attacking the Democrat running in the Alabama Senate race against Republican Roy Moore. The special election has been rocked by sexual misconduct allegations against Moore.
Conway lashed out against Doug Jones during a Monday appearance on “Fox & Friends.” She says Jones would “be vote against tax cuts,” calling him a “doctrinaire liberal.”
Moore has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted teenage girls when he was in his 30s.
White House aides have said President Donald Trump doesn’t know who to believe, but isn’t campaigning for Moore because of “discomfort” with the claims.
Asked if she was encouraging people to vote for Moore, Conway avoided the question, saying: “I’m telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through.”
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3:17 a.m.
The White House says President Donald Trump isn’t campaigning for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore because of “discomfort” with the sexual misconduct allegations made by several women.
But he isn’t calling on the controversial judge to drop out of the race because aides say he thinks the state’s voters should decide. Ultimately, aides say Trump doesn’t know who to believe following decades-old allegations made one month before the Dec. 12 election.
White House legislative director Marc Short, said: “Obviously if he did not believe that the women’s accusations were credible, he would be down campaigning for Roy Moore.” Still, Short added the “38-year-old allegations” were virtually unprovable.
