The Latest: McConnell has spoken to Trump, Pence on Moore

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on Roy Moore and the special election in Alabama for the U.S. Senate (all times local):

2:10 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has spoken to both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in recent days about the Alabama Senate race and the allegations against GOP candidate Roy Moore.

Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore waits to speak the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore is denying the allegations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

That’s the word from two Washington Republicans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the conversations.

Senate Republicans, led by McConnell, have called on Moore to step aside, but he has dug in. The GOP is relying on Trump, hoping he can have some sway with Alabama Republicans. The president was returning from his Asia trip on Tuesday.

Both Washington Republicans say White House officials share the GOP concerns about Moore, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct, and holding onto the Senate seat.

-By Alan Fram

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11:35 a.m.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he has “no reason to doubt” women who have accused Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual misconduct when they were minors.

Sessions made the comment under questioning Tuesday by Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Moore is running for the seat Sessions held until his confirmation earlier this year. But Sessions declined to say whether he thinks Moore should drop out of the race.

Women have accused Moore of groping them when they were teenagers decades ago.

Sessions says that would normally be a case for state prosecutors. But he also says the Justice Department will “evaluate every case as to whether it would be investigated.”

Some Republicans have floated the idea of abandoning Moore and rallying around a write-in candidate, perhaps Sessions, who remains popular in Alabama.

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10:52 a.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore “should step aside.” Ryan says allegations against Moore “are credible.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ryan joined the growing chorus of Washington Republicans calling on Moore to quit the race after two women stepped forward describing how Moore groped them when they teenagers decades ago. Moore has called the reports false.

Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have been struggling to find a way to force Moore out. His name remains on the ballot for the Dec. 12 special election against Doug Jones.

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10:10 a.m.

Democrat Doug Jones has unveiled a new campaign ad in which Alabama voters, including Republicans, say they can’t vote for Roy Moore. Moore is facing demands from Washington Republicans to quit the race as women have emerged saying he groped them when they were teenagers decades ago.

Jones’ commercial, coming days after the revelations about allegations of sexual misconduct against the Senate GOP candidate, highlights brief statements from several people.

One man says he’s a lifelong Republican but “just can’t” vote for Moore.

A woman asks “Don’t decency and integrity matter anymore?”

Jones appears briefly at the end saying he approved the ad.

The election is Dec. 12. Moore has dismissed the accusations as false.

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3:27 a.m.

Roy Moore’s support from his fellow Republicans is hemorrhaging. And a second woman has accused the Alabaman of groping her when she was a teenager in the late 1970s.

They were the latest blows to Moore’s effort to win an open Senate seat that suddenly seems up for grabs.

Moore denied the newest allegations and said he doesn’t know his accuser.

But in New York, a tearful Beverly Young Nelson detailed an attack she says occurred when she was 16 years old and he locked her in a car.

Last week, The Washington Post reported other alleged incidents decades ago.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he believes Moore’s accusers and wants the former judge to end his candidacy. Moore says McConnell should leave his post because he’s disappointed conservatives.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017 in Washington.  Sessions, in a raised voice and defiant tone, strongly defended himself Tuesday against allegations that he had misled members of Congress about his knowledge of communications between Russians and associates of President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017 in Washington. Sessions, in a raised voice and defiant tone, strongly defended himself Tuesday against allegations that he had misled members of Congress about his knowledge of communications between Russians and associates of President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. Ryan says Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore "should step aside." Ryan says allegations against Moore "are credible."
 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. Ryan says Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore “should step aside.” Ryan says allegations against Moore “are credible.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Beverly Young Nelson, the latest accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, reads her statement at a news conference, in New York, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says Moore assaulted her when she was 16 and he offered her a ride home from a restaurant where she worked. Moore says the latest allegations against him are a "witch hunt." (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Beverly Young Nelson, the latest accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, reads her statement at a news conference, in New York, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says Moore assaulted her when she was 16 and he offered her a ride home from a restaurant where she worked. Moore says the latest allegations against him are a “witch hunt.” (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Nov. 11, 2017, photo, former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at the Vestavia Hills Public library in Birmingham, Ala. A new accuser said Nov. 13 that as a teenager in the 1970s she was sexually assaulted by Moore in a locked car, further rocking the Alabama Republican's race for an open Senate seat.  (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

In this Nov. 11, 2017, photo, former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at the Vestavia Hills Public library in Birmingham, Ala. A new accuser said Nov. 13 that as a teenager in the 1970s she was sexually assaulted by Moore in a locked car, further rocking the Alabama Republican’s race for an open Senate seat. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Beverly Young Nelson, the latest accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, points to her photo in her high school yearbook during a news conference in New York, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says Moore assaulted her when she was 16 and he offered her a ride home from a restaurant where she worked. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Beverly Young Nelson, the latest accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, points to her photo in her high school yearbook during a news conference in New York, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says Moore assaulted her when she was 16 and he offered her a ride home from a restaurant where she worked. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Beverly Young Nelson the latest accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, shows her high school yearbook signed by Moore, at a news conference, in New York, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says Moore assaulted her when she was 16 and he offered her a ride home from a restaurant where she worked. Anticipating Nelson's allegations at the news conference, Moore's campaign ridiculed her attorney, Gloria Allred, beforehand as "a sensationalist leading a witch hunt." (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Beverly Young Nelson the latest accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, shows her high school yearbook signed by Moore, at a news conference, in New York, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says Moore assaulted her when she was 16 and he offered her a ride home from a restaurant where she worked. Anticipating Nelson’s allegations at the news conference, Moore’s campaign ridiculed her attorney, Gloria Allred, beforehand as “a sensationalist leading a witch hunt.” (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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