McConnell predicts expulsion if Moore wins

The majority leader and other GOP senators make it clear: The scandal-plagued Alabama candidate should not be allowed to serve.

By SEUNG MIN KIM and JOHN BRESNAHAN 11/14/2017 07:03 PM EST

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans say that Alabama Senate GOP candidate Roy Moore is virtually certain to face a formal ethics complaint — which would lead to expulsion proceedings — should he be elected next month. It’s an outcome that senior Republicans say privately is all but unavoidable after the embattled Senate hopeful was accused of sexual misconduct, including with a 14-year-old girl. The former Alabama Supreme Court justice is refusing to leave the race.

McConnell initially outlined his thinking at his weekly leadership meeting earlier this week. The Kentucky Republican said if Moore is elected, he expects a senator to file an ethics complaint against Moore, according to multiple sources. That process would eventually lead to a vote on expelling him.

One option that McConnell floated during the meeting was for a Democrat, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, to initiate the process by filing the complaint, according to the sources. Democrats are not entertaining that option before the Dec. 12 special election because the party’s candidate, Doug Jones, could win.

On Tuesday, McConnell didn’t mince words about what Moore would be up against if he makes it to the Senate.

“If he were to be sworn in, he would immediately be in a process before the Senate Ethics Committee,” McConnell said at a Wall Street Journal event. “He would be sworn in and be asked to testify under oath and it would be a rather unusual beginning, probably an unprecedented beginning.”

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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/14/moore-senate-republicans-expulsion-244907