Alabama GOP appears to still support Roy Moore

The Alabama Republican Party reportedly will continue to support Roy Moore as allegations of sexual misconduct rock the Senate contest.

NBC News first reported that the party would maintain its support for Moore after the steering committee met Wednesday night. It is too late to remove Moore's name from the ballot. But the party does have the option of formally withdrawing Moore as its nominee for the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, meaning votes for him in the Dec. 12 election would not be counted.

Asked about the Wednesday night steering committee meeting, Moore's campaign chairman Bill Armistead responded via text, "Nothing happened." Armistead was also the chairman of the state GOP from 2011 to 2015. He referred a question about whether that meant the party was still supporting Moore to the state GOP. A spokeswoman for the party has not returned multiple requests for comment.

Last week, The Washington Post reported Moore had engaged in inappropriate sexual and romantic advances with four women _ while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Another woman, Beverly Young Nelson, came forward Monday and accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16. Moore has denied that he engaged in sexual misconduct and called the reports "fake news."

More women came forward Wednesday. AL.com reported that another woman, Tina Johnson, accuses Moore of groping her in 1991 when she was in his office about a child custody proceeding. She was 28 at the time and Moore was married to his wife Kayla.

Johnson said Moore grabbed her buttocks as she left.

Another woman, Kelly Harrison Thorp, said Moore asked her on a date when she was 17 years old and told her, "'I go out with girls your age all the time.'"

The Post published a story Wednesday night describing Moore's behavior in the Gadsden, Ala., mall, and his alleged advances on young women who worked and spent time there.

One woman, Gena Richardson, said Moore phoned her at school to ask her out, and she obliged. She described his kiss on a date as "forceful" and did not want to see him after that.

With the Dec. 12 election less than a month away, the state party is still backing Moore. A handful of county and congressional district GOP committees have expressed support for Moore. Meanwhile, national GOP leaders have called on Moore to step aside as the nominee and for Republicans to support a write-in candidate instead.

As the GOP steering committee meeting convened Wednesday evening, Moore's campaign chairman, Armistead, and his attorney, Phillip Jauregui, faced reporters outside GOP headquarters.

Jauregui, who also ran Moore's campaign for state Supreme Court chief justice in 2000, said he has known Moore for 20 years and has never seen him act inappropriately towards women.

Jauregui went on to specifically attempt to raise questions about Nelson's accusations. Nelson said Moore attempted to undress her, and she was afraid she would be raped. Nelson also said Moore signed her high school yearbook with the signature, "Roy Moore D.A." (Moore was an assistant district attorney at the time.)

Jauregui said Nelson had claimed she had not had contact with Moore after the alleged incident in the 1970s and then claimed that when she filed for divorce in the late 1990s, the case was assigned to Moore.

He also tried to raise questions about the yearbook inscription.

"We demand that you immediately release the yearbook to a neutral custodian," Jauregui said, so that their handwriting expert could examine the writing and determine whether Moore did sign it.

Nelson's attorney, Gloria Allred, released a statement saying Nelson was willing to testify under oath in front of the Senate Judiciary and Ethics Committees. Allred said if either or both of the committees agree to hold hearings on the matter, she would release the original yearbook to be examined by experts.

Moore's campaign continued its push Wednesday night to counter the allegations. The campaign sent out a list of 12 women, including his sister-in-law and cousin's wife, who vouched for Moore's character.

Moore also wrote an open letter to conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity, who had called on Moore to provide evidence that the allegations were not true.

"I am suffering the same treatment other Republicans have had to endure," Moore wrote.

"I adamantly deny the allegations of Leigh Corfman and Beverly Nelson, did not date underage girls, and have taken steps to begin a civil action for defamation," Moore wrote. "Because of that, at the direction of counsel, I cannot comment further."