NRSC Chair: Senate Should Expel Moore If He Refuses To Withdraw And Wins

UNITED STATES - APRIL 25: Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., speaks with Roll Call in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building on Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
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National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Cory Gardner (R-CO) on Monday called on the Senate to “expel” Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore if he refuses to withdraw from the race and wins in December.

In a statement, Gardner said Moore is “unfit to serve in the United States Senate and he should not run for office.”

“If he refuses to withdraw and wins, the Senate should vote to expel him, because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate,” Gardner said.

Gardner said the women accusing Moore of sexually pursuing them while he was in his early 30s and they were teenagers “spoke with courage and truth.”

A fifth woman on Monday accused Moore of pursuing sex with her when she was a teenager. Beverly Young Nelson alleged that Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old and left bruises on her neck when she resisted his attempts to push her head toward his crotch.

“I was terrified,” Nelson said in a press conference. “I thought that he was going to rape me.”

Four other women last week alleged that Moore pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s. One woman, Leigh Corfman, said that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 years old.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) dropped its joint fundraising agreement with Moore last week in the wake of the allegations, which Moore has denied. His supporters have jumped to his defense while elected Republicans have hurried to distance themselves from Moore and called on him to drop out.

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