GOP Senate campaign arm abandons Roy Moore following sexual allegations

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Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, Roy Moore, speaks at a campaign rally on September 25, 2017 in Fairhope, Alabama.

The chief fundraising vehicle for Republican Senate campaigns on Friday severed its ties to Roy Moore, the party’s nominee in Alabama’s special election next month.

The break with Moore came a day after The Washington Post reported allegations by four women who said Moore had pursued sexual relationships with them when they were teenagers. At the time, Moore was in his early 30s.

According to new paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is no longer a part of a joint fundraising committee that includes Moore’s campaign, the Alabama GOP and the Republican National Committee.

Moore has denied the allegations against him, and his campaign on Thursday said the Post’s report, which cited 30 sources, was “garbage,” and “the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation.”

In Washington, Republican senators responded to the report with shock and dismay, telling reporters that if the claims were true, Moore should exit the race immediately.

Moore’s campaign did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment about the NRSC’s decision to abandon the race.

As of 2 p.m. ET Friday afternoon, the RNC and the Alabama Republican Party both remained in the joint committee.