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Timeline of sexual misconduct and assault allegations against Roy Moore, 2017

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U.S. Senate Election in Alabama
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Coverage
Overview • Timeline
September 26 Republican primary runoff
August 15 Democratic primary
August 15 Republican primary
Quick Facts
First primaries: August 15, 2017
Runoff Election: September 26, 2017
General Election: December 12, 2017
Election Winner: Doug Jones (D)
Incumbent: Luther Strange (R)
Race Ratings[1]
Cook Political Report: Toss Up[2]
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss Up[3]
Rothenberg & Gonzales: Toss Up[4]
2017-2018 Special Elections


The Washington Post reported on November 9, 2017, that a woman accused Moore of initiating sexual contact with her in 1979 when she was 14 years old. Moore would have been 32 years old at the time. Three other women alleged that Moore pursued them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his 30s. The legal age of consent in Alabama is 16. Moore denied the allegations in a statement, calling them a "desperate political attack."[5]

The following is a chronology of the political response to the allegations and related events.

November 9, 2017

  • Bill Armistead, Moore's campaign chair, responded to The Washington Post report in a statement, "Judge Roy Moore has endured the most outlandish attacks on any candidate in the modern political arena, but this story in today’s Washington Post alleging sexual impropriety takes the cake. ... This garbage is the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation."[6]
  • Alabama state auditor Jim Zeigler defended Moore, saying, “There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual."[8]
  • If the Republican Party wanted to remove Moore from the ballot, it could not do so, according to John Bennett, a spokesman for the Alabama secretary of state. If the party were to revoke his nomination or Moore withdraw from the race, then votes placed for him would not count, even if they were to surpass support for the Democratic candidate.[9]
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who was re-elected in 2010 through a write-in campaign, reportedly spoke with incumbent Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) about the process.[10]

November 10, 2017

  • The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) ended its fundraising agreement with Moore. "The allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore are deeply troubling. If these allegations are found to be true, Roy Moore must drop out of the Alabama special Senate election," NRSC Chairman Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) said in a statement after the story was first published.[11]
  • Alabama state Rep. Ed Henry (R) said in an interview, "I don't believe [Moore's accusers]. Maybe there is some legal prosecution for lying and interfering with a political process. But probably not. I would suspect there would be some type of litigation and lawsuits coming at some point. I don't believe them."[13]

November 12, 2017

  • Terry Lathan, the chair of the Republican Party of Alabama, said that "it would be a serious error" for any Republican candidate to support a write-in candidate or candidate from another party. She added that she was not aware of any Republican officials considering doing so.[14]

November 13, 2017

  • McConnell said that he believed Moore's accusers and said that he should step aside. Moore responded on Twitter, "The person who should step aside is @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell. He has failed conservatives and must be replaced. #DrainTheSwamp." McConnell was not the only senator to renew calls for Moore to leave the race thay day.[15]
  • Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) similarly tweeted, "I have now read Mr. Moore’s statement and listened to his radio interview in which he denies the charges. I did not find his denials to be convincing and believe that he should withdraw from the Senate race in Alabama."[15]
  • A fifth accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, held a press conference where she alleged that Moore sexually assaulted her in 1977 when she was 16. She said that Moore told her no one would believe her if she reported the incident because he was a district attorney at the time. Moore denied the accusation and said he did not know Nelson.[17]
  • Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tweeted, "Just to be clear. If the choice is between Roy Moore and a Democrat, I would run to the polling place to vote for the Democrat."[18]
  • U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who Moore defeated in the Alabama Senate Republican primary, said he planned to vote for Moore. “There are major issues facing the United States of America — deficit and debt that can lead to insolvency and bankruptcy, funding for national security, border security, abortion, appointment of Supreme Court justices. Doug Jones will vote wrong on each of those issues. Roy Moore will vote right; that’s why I’m voting for Roy Moore,” Brooks said.[20]

November 14, 2017

  • House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said that Moore should withdraw from the race. "He should step aside. Number one, these allegations are credible. Number two, if he cares about the values that he claims to care about, then he should step aside," Ryan said during a press conference.[21]
  • Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) said that he would vote for Moore, given the information available regarding the allegations against Moore. "As of today, with the information that's been introduced to me, and if these charges are not proven to be true, then I would continue to support and vote for Judge Moore," said Merrill. He also questioned the timing of the allegations, calling it "very odd and quite interesting."[22][23]
  • The Republican National Committee withdrew from its joint fundraising agreement with Moore, and ended ground operations in the state that included about a dozen paid canvassers. Politico reported that internal RNC polling had found a closer race than expected in the Republican-leaning state, even before the allegations, with Moore leading Jones by two points.[24]
  • Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) called on Moore to withdraw from the race, saying, “I believe the women who have come forward. Roy Moore should do what is best for the conservatives of Alabama and step aside.”[25] His 2018 primary opponent Danny Tarkanian questioned the timing and coverage of the allegations. "I’m deeply troubled by the character assassination campaign now being directed at Judge Roy Moore in the Alabama U.S. Senate race. ... People have every reason to be skeptical about the timing and nature of these attacks, especially with reported media payoffs and partisan attack dogs involved," Tarkanian said.[26]

November 15, 2017

  • Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said in a statement that he did not support Moore's candidacy. "Roy Moore faces specific, credible allegations and he hasn’t offered a specific, credible defense. I haven’t supported him, I don’t support him, and I can’t urge Alabama voters to support him," he said.[27]
  • Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said that he would be writing in the name of a Republican when he voted in the election. "It's not a good situation. I wish we had another candidate," he said.[28]
  • A sixth accuser, Tina Johnson, alleged that Moore groped her when she visited his office to discuss a legal matter in 1991.[29]

November 16, 2017

  • The White House issued its first comments on the allegations against Moore. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "The president believes that these allegations are very troubling and should be taken seriously." Commenting on whether Moore should withdraw from the race, Huckabee Sanders said “that is a decision the people of Alabama need to make, not the president.”[30]
  • The Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee announced that it would continue to support Moore's candidacy. It said in a statement, "The ALGOP Steering Committee supports Judge Roy Moore as our nominee and trusts the voters as they make the ultimate decision in this crucial race. Judge Moore has vehemently denied the allegations made against him. He deserves to be presumed innocent of the accusations unless proven otherwise. He will continue to take his case straight to the people of Alabama."[31]

November 17, 2017

  • Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said that although she did not disbelieve Moore's accusers, she planned to vote for him. "I'm going to cast my ballot on December the 12th, and I do believe the nominee of the party is the one I'll vote for. I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices, other appointments the Senate has to confirm and make major decisions. So that's what I plan to do, vote for Republican nominee Roy Moore," Ivey said. She added, "I certainly have no reason to disbelieve any of them. The timing is a little curious. But at the same time, I have no reason to disbelieve them."[32]

November 19, 2017

  • Three major newspapers in Alabama—The Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register and The Huntsville Times, all of which are owned by the same company—endorsed Jones over Moores. The editorial read, in part, "This utter disregard for people unlike himself, his pathological fixation on sex, and the steps he's taken to actively diminish other people's freedoms, is more than enough to have disqualified [Moore] from this office long before these women stepped into the public eye."[33][34]

November 21, 2017

  • President Donald Trump commented on the special election during a press conference, emphasizing Moore's denial of the sexual misconduct and assault allegiations and criticizing Jones. He said, "He denies it. Look, he denies it. If you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours. He totally denies it. He says it didn't happen. And look, you have to look at him also." Trump added, "We don't need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones. I've looked at his record. It's terrible on crime. It's terrible on the border. It's terrible on military," Trump said. "I can tell you for a fact we do not need somebody who's going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad for the military, bad for the Second Amendment."[35]

November 22, 2017

  • John Rogers resigned as communications director for Moore's campaign. Bill Armistead, the chair of the campaign, said in a statement, "As we all know, campaigns make changes throughout the duration of the campaign, as do those working in the campaign. John made the decision to leave the campaign last Friday—any representations to the contrary are false—and we wish him well."[36]

December 3, 2017

  • While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) initially said that Moore should withdraw from the race, he shifted his position in an interview on ABC News. "I'm going to let the people of Alabama make the call. The ethics committee will have to consider the matters that have been litigated in the campaign should that particular candidate win," McConnell said.[37]

December 4, 2017

  • The Republican National Committee (RNC), which withdrew from a fundraising agreement with the Moore campaign and ended a field operation in the state following the allegations, renewed its support of Moore. The decision came after President Donald Trump's endorsement of Moore earlier that morning. An RNC official told Breitbart, "We stand with the president."[38]

December 5, 2017

  • Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tweeted an image of a $100 check he had made out to the Jones campaign with the memo reading "Country over Party." He previously tweeted that Republican support for Moore following the allegations was tribalism. "After what we know, for Republicans to support Roy Moore over Doug Jones is political tribalism at its worst. We shouldn’t succumb to it," he wrote.[39]
  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) clarified that he still wanted Moore to withdraw from the race, even though he said a few days earlier that the election was up to Alabama's voters. "There's been no change of heart. I had hoped earlier he would withdraw as a candidate. That obviously is not going to happen," McConnell said. He added that Moore would face an ethics inquiry if he were seated in the Senate, saying, "If he were to be elected, I think he would immediately have an issue with the Ethics Committee, which they would take up."[40]

December 7, 2017

  • Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said, "Roy Moore will never have the support of the senatorial committee. We will never endorse him. We won’t support him. I won’t let that happen. Nothing will change. I stand by my previous statement."[41]

December 8, 2017

  • Beverly Young Nelson, who accused Moore of sexually assaulting her in his car when she was 16, said in an interview that the signed yearbook she presented as evidence that Moore knew her included additional notes from her underneath Moore's alleged inscription. The entry read: "To a sweeter more beautiful girl I could not say, 'Merry Christmas.' Love, Roy Moore D.A., 12-22-77, Olde Hickory House."[42] Moore denied knowing Nelson, and his attorneys had previously argued at a press conference that the "D.A." abbreviation and restaurant name did not match Moore's handwriting.[42][43] Nelson maintained in the interview that it was Moore's signature.[42]
  • Stand Up Republic, a social welfare organization founded by 2016 independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin and his running mate Mindy Finn, made a $500,000 ad buy calling on conservatives to reject Moore. The ads reference the sexual misconduct and assault allegations against Moore, which he has denied. In one ad, a Republican voter says that he cannot vote for Moore because he "makes Republicans and us Christians look bad." The second features clips of girls looking into the camera as the narrator asks, "What if she was your little girl? Your daughter? Your sister? What if she was 16 years old, or 15, or even 14? Would you let a 32-year-old man be alone with her? Date her? Undress her? Touch her? Have her touch him? That's what Roy Moore did. He called it dating. We call it unacceptable. That's why we can't support Roy Moore." Neither ad encouraged voters to support Jones.[44]

December 10, 2017

  • Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said in an interview that he voted for a write-in candidate rather than Moore when he cast his ballot early. "I’d rather see the Republican win, but I would hope that Republican would be a write-in. I couldn't vote for Roy Moore. I didn't vote for Roy Moore. But I wrote in a distinguished Republican name. I’d rather see another Republican in there and I’m going to stay with that story. I'm not going to vote for the Democrat, I didn’t vote for the Democrat or advocate for the Democrat. But I couldn’t vote for Roy Moore. The state of Alabama deserves better," Shelby said.[45]


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Race ratings from outside sources are their initial ratings for the 2018 election.
  2. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2018 Senate Race Ratings for December 7, 2017," accessed December 12, 2017
  3. ↑ Sabato's Crystal Ball, "Alabama Senate: It’s a Toss-Up," accessed December 12, 2017
  4. ↑ Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, "Senate Ratings," accessed December 12, 2017
  5. ↑ The Washington Post, "Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32," November 9, 2017
  6. ↑ The Hill, "Moore campaign: Washington Post story 'garbage' that defines 'fake news,'" November 9, 2017
  7. ↑ Vox, "'If these allegations are true, he must step aside': Republican senators respond to Moore allegations," November 9, 2017
  8. ↑ Washington Examiner, "Alabama state auditor defends Roy Moore against sexual allegations, invokes Mary and Joseph," November 9, 2017
  9. ↑ SFGate, "The Latest: Roy Moore's campaign calls story 'fake news,'" November 9, 2017
  10. ↑ The Hill, "Strange encouraged to run write-in campaign after Moore allegations," November 9, 2017
  11. ↑ Politico, "Senate Republicans ditch fundraising pact with Moore," November 10, 2017
  12. ↑ The Huffington Post, "2 GOP Senators Drop Endorsements Of Roy Moore," November 10, 2017
  13. ↑ AL.com, "State Rep. Ed Henry: Roy Moore is 'victim' in allegations," November 10, 2017
  14. ↑ Alabama Political Reporter, "GOP chair warns Republican office-holders against supporting write-in candidates," November 13, 2017
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Politico, "McConnell: ‘I believe the women’ accusing Roy Moore," November 13, 2017
  16. ↑ Roll Call, "NRSC Chairman: Senate Should Expel Moore if Elected," November 13, 2017
  17. ↑ CNN, "Woman accuses Moore of sexually assaulting her at 16," November 14, 2017
  18. ↑ Twitter, "Jeff Flake," November 13, 2017
  19. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Cruz, Cornyn withdraw endorsements of Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore," November 13, 2017
  20. ↑ Roll Call, "Mo Brooks Stands By Roy Moore in Alabama Senate Race," November 13, 2017
  21. ↑ CNN, "Paul Ryan says Moore should 'step aside,' allegations 'are credible,'" November 14, 2017
  22. ↑ CNN, "Alabama official says he would still vote for Moore unless allegations proven true," November 14, 2017
  23. ↑ Talking Points Memo, "AL Secretary Of State: It’s ‘Possible’ Moore Accusers Are ‘Making It Up,'" November 14, 2017
  24. ↑ Politico, "RNC cuts off Moore," November 14, 2017
  25. ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Heller calls for Moore to drop out of Alabama Senate race," November 14, 2017
  26. ↑ The Hill, "Nevada GOP candidate criticizes 'rush to judgment' against Moore," November 14, 2017
  27. ↑ Twitter, "NBC Politics," November 15, 2017
  28. ↑ Bloomberg, "Alabama Senate Race: Shelby Says He’ll Write In Someone Besides Moore," November 15, 2017
  29. ↑ AL.com, "New Roy Moore accuser: 'He didn't pinch it; he grabbed it,'" November 15, 2017
  30. ↑ The Hill, "White House doesn't call for Moore to exit race," November 16, 2017
  31. ↑ WIAT, "Alabama GOP commits to support Roy Moore as Senate nominee," November 16, 2017
  32. ↑ AL.com, "Gov. Kay Ivey to vote for Roy Moore in U.S. Senate race," November 17, 2017
  33. ↑ AL.com, "Our view: Alabama voters must reject Roy Moore; we endorse Doug Jones for U.S. Senate," November 19, 2017
  34. ↑ The Guardian, "Alabama's largest newspaper calls on voters to 'reject Roy Moore,'" November 19, 2017
  35. ↑ CNN, "Trump all but endorses Roy Moore," November 21, 2017
  36. ↑ The Hill, "Communications director for Roy Moore campaign resigns," November 22, 2017
  37. ↑ Politico, "McConnell on Moore: 'I'm going to let the people of Alabama make the call,'" December 3, 2017
  38. ↑ NBC News, "RNC jumps back in Alabama Senate Race after Trump endorses Roy Moore," December 4, 2017
  39. ↑ Politico, "Republican Flake tweets check made out to Alabama Democrat's campaign," December 5, 2017
  40. ↑ The Hill, "McConnell: 'No change of heart' on Roy Moore," December 5, 2017
  41. ↑ The Weekly Standard, "Cory Gardner: The NRSC 'Will Never Endorse' Roy Moore," December 7, 2017
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 Business Insider, "Roy Moore accuser admits she added 'notes' to yearbook inscription she attributed to embattled Senate candidate," December 8, 2017
  43. ↑ AL.com, "Roy Moore: I 'don't even know' latest accuser, Beverly Young Nelson," November 13, 2017
  44. ↑ The Washington Post, "Anti-Trump conservatives place $500,000 ad buy against Roy Moore," November 8, 2017
  45. ↑ Politico, "Shelby: My state of Alabama 'deserves better' than Moore," December 10, 2017


Alabama's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Katie Britt (R)
Tommy Tuberville (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
Republican Party (7)
Democratic Party (2)

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