McConnell Now Says Let Alabama Voters Decide If Moore Joins Senate

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's going to leave it up to the voters of Alabama to decide whether Alabama GOP candidate Roy Moore should serve in the Senate.

McConnell was initially among several national Republicans to urge Moore, who faces Democrat Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election, to drop out of the race after multiple women accused Moore of inappropriate sexual conduct decades ago, when he was in his early 30s and they were as young as 14. Moore has denied the allegations.

McConnell, who has said he believes Moore's accusers, is now taking a slightly different position.

"I think that at this point, we're just going to let the people of Alabama make their decision," McConnell told The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump has also said the decision should be up to Alabama voters, discounting the allegations against Moore and saying that electing a Democrat to the seat formerly held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions "would be a disaster."

McConnell, R-Ky., said he believed the Senate Ethics Committee would take up an investigation if Moore is elected, but that it'll be up to that panel to decide how it wants to proceed.

"The ethics committee will have to consider the matters that have been litigated in the campaign should that particular candidate win," McConnell said on ABC's "This Week."

"And I'm confident they'll come up with the right conclusion," he said.