Women accuse Roy Moore of sexual misconduct

WASHINGTON—Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is under fire Thursday after four women accused the Alabama judge of inappropriate relationships when they were teenagers. The Washington Post reported accounts from three women who claimed Moore pursued relationships with them while he was in his early 30s and they were between the ages of 16 and 18. That was on top of a detailed account from Leigh Corfman, now 53, who said Moore touched her inappropriately in 1979 when she was 14 years old and he was 32. Moore is the Republican nominee in a special election set for Dec. 12 in Alabama to replace Jeff Sessions, who is now U.S. attorney general. His opponent is Democrat Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney. In September, Moore defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange—appointed to the seat in January by then–Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley—in the Republican primary with widespread grassroots support. Moore, 70, denied the accusations in the Post article and called them a political attack from the Democratic Party and the newspaper. But Republican Senate leaders aren’t dismissing the report. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, “If these allegations are true, he must step aside.” At least six other Republican senators made similar statements, calling the report “deeply disturbing” and “devastating.”