The whirlwind continues to swirl around Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in the special election for the U.S. Senate, as events surrounding his embattled campaign continue to unfold at a frenetic pace.

On Monday afternoon, another woman came forward to accuse Moore, Alabama’s former chief justice, of making sexual advances toward her when she was a teenager and he was a district attorney in Gadsden.

Beverly Young Nelson said that Moore tried to force himself on her in his car, which was parked in the back of the Old Hickory House barbecue restaurant where she worked. The attack is alleged to have taken place in December 1977, when she was 16 years old and Moore was 30.

Nelson detailed her version of the incident during a press conference in Madison, New York arranged by attorney Gloria Allred, who’s made a reputation of taking on high-profile, often controversial cases involving sexual harassment and women’s rights.

In a prepared statement, Nelson said that she worked at the Old Hickory House while she was a student at Gadsden High School, and that Moore was a regular customer there, usually sitting in the same seat at the counter. Nelson said that she had long red hair at the time and would often compete in beauty pageants, and that Moore would sometimes flirt with her by tugging on the ends of her hair.

Nelson said that one night her boyfriend was late in picking her up from her job after closing time, and when Moore saw her waiting outside, he offered to take her home, which she accepted. But instead of pulling out onto Meighan Boulevard, she said, Moore drove his car around to the back of the restaurant, parked in a dark area between the restaurant and a dumpster and began to force himself on her.

“He reached over and began groping me, putting his hands on my breasts,” Nelson said. “I tried to open my door to leave, but he reached over and locked it so I could not get out. I tried fighting him off, while yelling at him to stop, but instead of stopping, he began squeezing my neck attempting to force my head onto his crotch … . I thought he was going to try to rape me.”

Moore denies the claims. Read more.

Read coverage of the story:
GOP Chair Warns Republican Office-Holders Against Supporting Write-In Candidates (Alabama Political Reporter)
Senate Republicans Repudiate Roy Moore’s Candidacy and Urge Him to Leave the Race (Washington Post)
GOP Confronts Long-Shot Options for Dealing With Moore (Associated Press)
No State Precedent for Successful Statewide Write-In Candidate (Decatur Daily)
Sen. Richard Shelby Says Roy Moore Should Seriously Consider Dropping Out (WAAY)
What All 52 Republican Senators Say About Embattled Alabama Candidate Roy Moore (ABC News)
Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Roy Moore Make Senate Race in Alabama a Toss-Up (Anniston Star)
Roy Moore Allegations Prompt Reflections on Fundamentalist Culture in Which Some Christian Men Date Teens (Washington Post)
Gadsden Locals Say Moore’s Predatory Behavior At Mall, Restaurants Not A Secret (AL.com)

UPDATED – Roy Moore this afternoon denied all claims by a woman who said she had inappropriate sexual contact with him when she was 14 years old and he was 32.

“These allegations are completely false and misleading,” Moore said during an interview on the Sean Hannity radio show this afternoon. “I don’t know Miss Corfman from anybody,” he said. “I never talked to her, never had contact with her.”

Leigh Corfman in a series of interviews with the Washington Post said she and her mother were approached by Moore, then an assistant district attorney in Gadsden, while they were sitting in the county courthouse waiting for a custody hearing. The meeting sparked a series of rendezvous, Corfman told the Post. She alleges that in one of those meetings, Moore removed her shirt and pants and removed his own clothes, then guided her hand to touch him over his underwear.

Three other women, teenagers at the time, also said they were approached by Moore for dates, but those dates never went beyond kissing, the Post reported.

During the interview, Moore repeatedly pointed out that the allegations were being made 40 years after the fact and just weeks away from the special Senate election.

“This never happened,” he said. “They know it never happened, and … you don’t bring out things like this 40 years later.’
Moore said the allegations were false and “meant to defrock my campaign.”

Fallout from the accusations continued Friday, the day after the Washington Post published the reports.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee ended its fundraising agreement with Moore because of the allegations, the Associated Press reported. The group had been part of a fundraising committee that included the Alabama Republican Party and the Republican National Committee.

Two U.S. senators publicly withdrew their endorsements of Moore, and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he believed Corfman’s story, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections,” Romney said on Twitter, calling Corfman’s account “too serious to ignore.”

The New York Times also reported that Republican senators were trying to distance themselves from Moore. The paper said there was a “flurry” of calls, emails and texts discussing the possibilities for a write-in candidate, a delay in the Dec. 12 election so another candidate could be placed on the ballot, or even not seating Moore if he were to be elected.

In Alabama, the state’s Republican leadership remained largely silent on the issue Friday. Other Republican officeholders in the state took up for Moore, saying they found allegations concerning events from 40 years ago suspect.

Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate in the Senate race, told AL.com that his campaign “had no knowledge whatsoever” about the allegations that had been raised. Read more.

Read full coverage on the story:
Alabama Republicans Defend Roy Moore: ‘It Was More Than 40 Years Ago.’ (New York Times)
NRSC Ends Fundraising Agreement With Roy Moore (Associated Press)
For Alabama Women, Disgust, Fatigue and a Sense Moore Could Win Anyway (New York Times)
Alabama Poll: Moore and Jones Tied Following Scandal (The Hill)
Sexual Molestation Allegation Puts Alabama Senate Seat in Play as Moore’s GOP Support Fades (Los Angeles Times)
‘I Believed in His Christian Values:’ Residents of Roy Moore’s Hometown React to Allegations (Washington Post video)
Should He Stay or Should He Go? The Reason Republicans Can’t Quite Ditch Roy Moore Yet (Washington Post)
Doug Jones: ‘No Knowledge Whatsoever’ Ahead of Story Alleging Sexual Misconduct by Roy Moore (AL.com)

Just when former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore seemed headed for victory in the Dec. 12 special U.S. Senate election, an accusation that he had inappropriate sexual contact nearly four decades ago with a girl who was 14 has thrown the race into turmoil.

In a bombshell story published Thursday, The Washington Post reported allegations by Leigh Corfman that she went out with Moore and they had inappropriate sexual contact when she was 14 and he was 32.

Three other women also told the Post that Moore approached them for dates when they were between 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s, but their contact with the man who later became chief justice of Alabama never went beyond kissing.

Moore’s campaign in a response attributed to campaign chairman Bill Armistead said, “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. National liberal organizations know their chosen candidate Doug Jones is in a death spiral, and this is their last ditch Hail Mary.”

The accusations call into question whether Moore, who defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in a Republican primary runoff in October, can continue in his election battle with Jones.

After the Post story broke, numerous members of the Senate, including Alabama’s Richard Shelby, called on Moore to step aside as the GOP nominee if the charges were true. One senator didn’t bother with the “if true” caveat; John McCain, R-Arizona, in a tweet called the accusations “disqualifying.”
Read more.

Read full coverage on the story:

Woman Says Roy Moore Initiated Sexual Encounter When She Was 14, He Was 32 (Washington Post)

Mitch McConnell Calls on Roy Moore to Exit Alabama Senate Race ‘If These Allegations Are True’ (Washington Post)
Why Evangelical Voters Are Unlikely to Bail on Roy Moore (Washington Post)
Several Alabama Republicans Defend Moore But Others Cautious; His Name to Stay on Ballot (Decatur Daily)
Kay Ivey, Other Alabama Leaders, Weigh in on ‘Deeply Disturbing’ Roy Moore Allegations (AL.com)
Roy Moore Says ‘Forces of Evil’ Behind Report of Sexual Contact With 14-year-old (Fox News)
Moore Accuser’s Attorney: “I’m Sure She Was Scared to Death” to Report Sexual Encounter (AL.com)
‘Bizarre’ Responses From Alabama GOP Officials on Roy Moore’s Alleged Sexual Encounters (Business Insider)