FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2017, file photo, Alabama U.S. Senatorial candidate Doug Jones talks with the media after touring the Northport Medical Center, in Northport, Ala. Jones is the democratic candidate facing republican Roy Moore for Alabama's U.S. Senate seat in the Dec. 12 special election. (Vasha Hunt/AL.com via AP, File)
Republished December 03, 2017 - 5:46 PM
Original Publication Date December 03, 2017 - 2:46 PM
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's going to leave it up to the voters of Alabama to decide whether Alabama GOP candidate Roy Moore should serve in the Senate. And the Senate Ethics Committee could decide what to do then.
McConnell was initially among several national Republicans to urge Moore, who faces Democrat Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election, to drop out of the race after multiple women accused Moore of inappropriate sexual conduct decades ago, when he was in his early 30s and they were as young as 14. Moore has denied the allegations.
McConnell, R-Ky., said Sunday he believed the Senate Ethics Committee would take up an investigation if Moore is elected, but that it'll be up to that panel to decide how it wants to proceed.
"The ethics committee will have to consider the matters that have been litigated in the campaign should that particular candidate win," McConnell said on ABC's "This Week."
"And I'm confident they'll come up with the right conclusion," he said
McConnell, who has said he believes Moore's accusers, is now taking a slightly different position on his election.
"I think that at this point, we're just going to let the people of Alabama make their decision," McConnell told The Associated Press.
President Donald Trump has also said the decision should be up to Alabama voters, discounting the allegations against Moore and saying that electing a Democrat to the seat formerly held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions "would be a disaster."
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News from © The Associated Press, 2017