McConnell PAC demands Moore return its money

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wants his money back from Roy Moore, the controversial Republican nominee for Senate in Alabama.

McConnell’s leadership PAC, Bluegrass Committee, has requested that Moore return the $5,000 check it gave him after he beat Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) in the September GOP primary, according to a disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission.

McConnell is standing firm against Moore, even though Republicans in Washington haven’t yet had any luck recruiting a promising candidate to wage a write-in campaign against Moore and Democrat Doug Jones.

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The state Republican Party has also made clear that it will not disqualify Moore as its nominee.

McConnell’s move will put pressure on other Republican lawmakers and donors to ask for refunds from Moore at a critical time.

Other congressional donors include Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Andy Harris (R-Md.), according to FEC filings. 

Money, or the lack of it, is a problem for Moore, who has been dramatically outspent by his Democratic opponent.

Jones has spent about $805,000 on the campaign since The Washington Post broke a bombshell story about allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore.

Moore has spent only $64,000 during that same period, according to a source familiar with media buys in the state.

Jones had been advertising on television for a full month before the race was upended by allegations first reported by the Post that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with an underage girl decades ago. 

Since then a number of women have accused the candidate of sexual misconduct.