Senate leaders look to work with White House to block Moore
Roy Moore
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he wants to work with the White House to explore ways to keep  embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore  from taking office.
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol  McConnell said he had been in contact with President Donald Trump and others about sexual misconduct allegations against  Moore .
Five women have accused  Moore   a Republican  of sexual misconduct stemming from when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers.  Moore   now 70  has denied the allegations.
Trump returns to Washington from a 12-day trip to Asia on Tuesday evening  and McConnell said he planned to discuss  Moore ’s situation with the president. Both are Republicans.
McConnell said he had also spoken with Vice President Mike Pence and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly about  Moore .
Trump supported  Moore ’s opponent  Luther Strange  in the Republican primary but threw his support to the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice after Strange was defeated.
McConnell said Republicans were still considering having a candidate launch a write-in campaign against  Moore  for the Dec. 12 special election. Speculation has centered around Strange and the current U.S. attorney general  Jeff Sessions  as possibilities.
Under state law   Moore  cannot be removed from the ballot. Before the allegations surfaced   he  had been heavily favored to defeat  his  Democratic opponent  former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones.
 Moore  has suggested that McConnell and other establishment Republicans were working in tandem with news media to discredit  him .
After McConnell’s remarks   Moore  responded by tweeting: “The good people of Alabama  not the Washington elite who wallow in the swamp  will decide this election!”
 Judge Roy Moore  speaks as  he  participates in the Mid-Alabama Republican Club's Veterans Day Program in Vestavia Hills  Alabama  U.S.  November 11  2017. REUTERS/Marvin Gentry
McConnell on Monday urged  Moore  to leave the race  while Senator Cory Gardner  who chairs the Republican Party’s Senate campaign arm  suggested the Senate should expel  Moore  should  he  continue campaigning and win.
In Birmingham  Alabama  Jones told reporters his campaign had no plans to directly attack  Moore  over the allegations in a bid to capitalize on the furor.
“I‘m a Republican  but Roy Moore - no way ” one voter says in the ad.
The national Democratic Party  however  has yet to directly invest in the race beyond funds to build the state party  and has not changed that stance since the  Moore  allegations surfaced.
Earlier in the day  Sessions said in testimony before Congress that he has no reason to doubt the five women who have accused  Moore  of misconduct when they were in their teens.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he wants to work with the White House to explore ways to keep  embattled [TGT]from taking office.
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol  McConnell said he had been in contact with President Donald Trump and others about sexual misconduct allegations against [TGT] .
Five women have accused  Moore   a Republican  of sexual misconduct stemming from when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers.  [TGT]has denied the allegations.
Trump returns to Washington from a 12-day trip to Asia on Tuesday evening  and McConnell said he planned to discuss  Moore ’s situation with the president. Both are Republicans.
McConnell said he had also spoken with Vice President Mike Pence and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly about [TGT] .
Trump supported  Moore ’s opponent  Luther Strange  in the Republican primary but threw his support to the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice after Strange was defeated.
McConnell said Republicans were still considering having a candidate launch a write-in campaign against  Moore  for the Dec. 12 special election. Speculation has centered around Strange and the current U.S. attorney general  Jeff Sessions  as possibilities.
Under state law   Moore  cannot be removed from the ballot. Before the allegations surfaced   he  had been heavily favored to defeat  his  Democratic opponent  former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones.
 Moore  has suggested that McConnell and other establishment Republicans were working in tandem with news media to discredit  him .
After McConnell’s remarks   Moore  responded by tweeting: “The good people of Alabama  not the Washington elite who wallow in the swamp  will decide this election!”
 [TGT]speaks as  [TGT]  participates in the Mid-Alabama Republican Club's Veterans Day Program in Vestavia Hills  Alabama  U.S.  November 11  2017. REUTERS/Marvin Gentry
McConnell on Monday urged  Moore  to leave the race  while Senator Cory Gardner  who chairs the Republican Party’s Senate campaign arm  suggested the Senate should expel  Moore  should  he  continue campaigning and win.
In Birmingham  Alabama  Jones told reporters his campaign had no plans to directly attack  Moore  over the allegations in a bid to capitalize on the furor.
“I‘m a Republican  but Roy Moore - no way ” one voter says in the ad.
The national Democratic Party  however  has yet to directly invest in the race beyond funds to build the state party  and has not changed that stance since the  Moore  allegations surfaced.
Earlier in the day  Sessions said in testimony before Congress that he has no reason to doubt the five women who have accused  Moore  of misconduct when they were in their teens.