GOP Senate committee will no longer fundraise for Roy Moore

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, will no longer help fundraise for Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore, according to paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The split follows allegations that Moore had inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor decades ago.

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The NRSC removed its name from the Alabama 2017 Senate Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee that also includes the Alabama Republican Party and the Republican National Committee.

The news was first reported by the Daily Beast.

The decision to remove the NRSC’s name from the joint fundraising committee comes one day after The Washington Post reported that Moore allegedly had inappropriate sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl decades ago.

This prompted dozens of Senate Republicans to call on Moore to withdraw his name from next month’s special election if the allegations are true.

Following the Post’s report, the NRSC issued statements from Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), the committee’s chairman, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), calling on Moore to step aside if the claims are true.

While Republicans in Washington are seeking to distance themselves from Moore, a number of Alabama Republicans have rushed to his defense, questioning the timing and veracity of the allegations.

GOP strategists on the ground argue that voters in Alabama don’t trust the national media and believe it likely won’t impact Moore’s standing in the election.

Moore, a former state Supreme Court chief justice, is set to square off against Democratic nominee Doug Jones on Dec. 12.

Moore has vehemently denied the allegations and has said he’s not planning to step aside. Alabama’s Republican secretary of state said in an interview on CNN that only the state party can remove him as the nominee, but that regardless his name would still appear on the ballot because it’s past the 76-day window from election day to take his name off.

-Updated 2:10 p.m.