>> "washington journal" continues. host: we welcome bridget bowman from roll call. senator al franken was accused yesterday of acts in 2006. he said he did not remember it that way but later had a lengthy your statement apologizing to this woman and those who worked with him, those that were on the tour, etc. what is happening now? guest: senator franken indicated he is willing to work with the ethics committee on the investigation. mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer are both calling for an ethics investigation. that makes this investigation extremely likely. how it would probably work as

the ethics committee would conduct an initial investigation into the allegations and likely hold some sort of hearing and then come out with a recommendation, whether that be expulsion or something else. can take atigations while. i was talking to the former chief counsel for the senate ethics committee earlier this week about roy moore, and he says investigations can sometimes take months to years. if it is more of a public case, it could take weeks to months. host: and they do investigate things that happened when they were not in the senate? guest: yes, so that leaves the senate open to investigating roy moore if he comes to the senate. this man i talked to, former chief counsel, mentioned that the ethics committee has left this question open and the past. decisioned to 2008, a regarding a former senator, and the ethics committee said they were not going to continue

looking into allegations that he solicited prostitutes. not,did not say they could even though the allegations took place before he was a senator. they do have the option to investigate. host: you mention roy moore. who is talking about an ethics investigation if he were to be elected by alabamans? guest: mitch mcconnell indicated at an event this week that the ethics committee process would move forward. there were questions as to whether or not they would just vote immediately to expel him if he can to the senate. counselormer chief mentioned, that could open them up to a legal challenge. normalhey go through the process, that could be to expulsion eventually, and it would find of stave off any legal challenge. host: what else a republicans in washington thinking about doing about roy moore? mitch mcconnell, the majority leader, has been clear that he does not think he should be on

the ticket, that he should step down but what can they do about it? guest: there is not much they can do at this point with moore not stepping down and the alabama republican party saying they are standing behind him, and they did have the option of disqualifying him as their nominee, but they decided they are not going to do that. they're going to let the alabama voters decide. lawyers associated with the national party were scrambling after the "washington post" story published last week, trying to find a way forward and keeping him from coming to the senate, whether that is moving the date of the special election. without the governor or input from the president, that makes that difficult. host: what about senator strange -- it has been floated that he could trigger a special election. option somewas an national republicans were looking into. senator strange says he intends to serve out the term, and

governor k iv through coldwater at that -- governor kay ivey through cold water on that. host: what is the potential political fallout from republicans in washington trying to control what happens in alabama? guest: this has allowed roy moore to take a similar position that he did during the republican primary, where he is making mitch mcconnell kind of his number one enemy, saying in press conferences, calling on mcconnell to step on, accusing him of trine to steal the election from the people of alabama. it is interesting that you see the same playbook coming out again. it was effective during the primary we will see how effective it is in the general. republicans on capitol hill saying about president trump not publicly speaking himself? through a spokesperson, they have given statements.

but himself -- not on twitter, not before cameras, not talking about these roy moore accusations. guest: it is interesting. i am sure republicans would acknowledge that it would help with the president were more forceful in his remarks. an interesting dynamic here where the president is a very popular in alabama and does not want to alienate his days who also support roy moore. we know mcconnell has spoken with trump about this, what it looks a good president has taken the position that the alabama voters will decide. host: that decision will be made on december 12, the date of that special election. barbara in texas, a republican. good morning to you. caller: good morning. my thing is it is as if everybody is condemning this roy moore before he has even been tried or anything. they are coming up with accusations from 40 years ago, 40 years ago. we are it is like

condemning him before he has even been -- it has been proven that he has done anything. it is just another play out of the democratic playbook, just like they tried before. it is to get another seat so they can get their democrat in there. that is all it is. host: what about the republicans in congress who believe the women who have come forward? one of them said she was 14 years old when it happened. caller: ok, they are afraid to andthis is still america you were still innocent until proven guilty. it is not the other way around. to say whatt afraid is right. what is right is you are still innocent until proven guilty. and president trump is doing the right thing by keeping his mouth acts come oute f and you know for sure what is going on. there are a lot of tricky things going on these days with the

secret underhanded stuff, all of the stuff hillary was planning during the elections. i mean, democrats can go pretty low. oint, bridget, to her p this has not been proven, so are there any investigations right now looking into the allegations by these women? , a lot ofl, certainly reporters are looking into it. locally, as well. another l at came out with another woman he made accusations -- another woman came out with -- another outlet came out with another woman who made accusations. about the question timing of this and why allegations had not come out before. campaign has said it is both democrats and republicans, and i think that is

part of the strategy of bringing mcconnell into it, saying establishment republicans are teaming up with the democrats to push this forward. in houston, texas been, democrat. caller: yes, ma'am. it seemed like his discrimination against the republicansou know, get away with everything, but the democrats, they always want this lady is talking. they are scared to even say anything. speak about what he did was wrong. he was always with women and everything. out on thispeak man, but if it had been a democrat, he would have spoke out.

this man, he need to be impeached for that. and these ladies talking about, oh, no, he is not so. that lady was crying. they are scared to even speak out. --n i was a child [indiscernible] i was scared to even speak out. scared to say he touched me the wrong way and everything. so this is not right here. host: she mentioned the president has spoken about al franken but we have not heard him talk about roy moore. guest: that is right, and that has been an interesting contrast. we have not heard too much reaction from capitol hill about that tweet he made about senator franken. certainly an interesting dynamic. host: ron in tennessee, republican. caller: yes, i would like to make a comment about the sexual harassment. rs ago was ale

lady, and she hit the mail on the head. up, america -- you are innocent until proven guilty. all this slaying going on against mr. moore, bring the proof and then do something about it. but to make accusations and tear a person down is wrong. it is totally wrong. and why didn't mr. trump, our president, say something about mr. moore? bring the proof, and i am sure if they bring the proof, mr. trump will be against him. host: ron, is their proven the al franken case? caller: ma'am, from what i have seen on your show, yes. there is a problem. ok? is the proof in

that case versus the roy moore accusation? caller: if i am not badly mistaken, there is the picture of him standing with the beatty and his hands -- standing with the lady and his hands -- well, that do not look too good. it is a reason to start investigating to find out whether or not he is guilty or not. until they have that investigation, all this sharing his character down and accusing him, bring the proof, get it into court, and fix it. host: should president trump have said anything on twitter about senator franken? caller: if he seen what i seen, i think he has a right to say something. host: so is there enough to start an investigation on roy moore? hearsay -- i have not seen anything that proves that he did yet.

if somebody says, yes, he did this to me -- well, prove it. host: what about the number of ladies saying he did it? caller: how do we know that this ain't financed by somebody back? host: ok. bridget, when we talk about the distrust for washington or the party and politics, i mean, that caller is not alone in thinking that this is politics. guest: that is a really interesting point, and it ms like allee of these cases and accusations do not do much to help congres'' approval rating either. backlasha, you see a to national republicans looking into ways to try to keep moore from coming to the senate or keep him off the ballot. broader distrust. rachel from texas,

independent. welcome to the conversation. caller: yes, they are trying to make it into a democrat-republican thing. we really need to know if he did this or not. --ot of people think [indiscernible] i guarantee they would not move next her to him if they have daughters. andew up in a small town, this man lived next door to us and was exposing himself, and i was only eight years old. with my age and everything, the more or less let him go and he wound up working as a janitor in a school and wound up raping a young girl. half the people in town where he is from, roy moore, remembers hearing stories about this man going around and trying to pick up young girls in town at a mall. i mean, these people come forward. dide people voted for him, not even know it was the same person they voted for. i mean, these were stories told

years ago, and now they are saying it could not be true and it is just because the election. they are just trying to keep him from getting elected. these things were told years ago. there are women out there scared to death that some child predator is going to kidnap their kids and god knows what they're going to do to them. then we have these people willing to vote for something they are so far against it i just do not understand it. host: ok. bridget bowman, the dynamic care of that caller talking about if these allegations are true against roy moore, that he would come to the senate and represent the state of alabama. what are you hearing about the standard for senators or for members of congress holding a political office? guest: well, republicans in the senate say that moore should

not be in the senate attention should not be representing the republican party. they say he does not belong there and does not meet the standard of serving in the senate. so a couple senators do acknowledge that there is not much they can do at this point to keep him off of the ballot or keep him from coming here if he is elected. host: they cannot not seat him? guest: correct. not seatway they could him immediately is if he did not meet the constitutional requirements, which means the minimum age for being a senator, that he was duly elected. so it looks like he will have to be seated if he was elected. host: ann in biloxi, tennessee, republican. caller: good morning, i would like to say that the post in washington found out about roy senator spears have told us if there are present

senators -- members of the house and senate, congress, that have taken advantage of women -- i wonder if the press is going to find out about them and expose the democrats and the republicans who have charges or who have had accusations made against them. then i wonder if anybody has looked into mr. jones, who is running against mr. moore. everybody should be suspect, not just one. host: ok, we will take your point. she is referring to congresswoman jackie speier testifying at a hearing on sexual hold -- sexual assault on capitol hill. she did not name names, but she said there is a democrat and a republican who she heard stories of them harassing women. guest: that is a unique thing about this issue on capitol hill, that there have not been a lot of names yet. it contrasts the scandals in hollywood, etc. i think there is certainly more

to come. we have reporters looking into this issue on capitol hill. seems like only a matter of time and there will be more to come out of that. host: stories about sexual harassment claims that have been made. roll call, your website, has this officee -- that handles the complaints, they said u.s. taxpayers paid out more than $900,000 in the most recent fiscal year to settle complaints on capitol hill, the highest amount in 10 years. what do you know about the last year and these claims? guest: the office of compliance, the organization referenced, also oversees other legislative branch agencies, not just they're looking at government accountability office and others. so they deal with workplace disputes, harassment disputes, and all of that.

they issue, i believe, a biannual report of issues and recommendations. i believe,equested, and additional staff member to look into sexual harassment claims. trying of congress are to change the process of how this works, make it easier for people who are accusing or alleging sexual harassment to be able to go through the system. host: what is the process now? guest: it is a bit convoluted. congressman jackie speier had a flow, and it was pretty extensive. benefits theat it member of congress or the staff member who is being accused, that there was not a lot of transparency and not a good route for someone who maybe had been harassed. there are different bills trying to change it, so we will have to watch and see. host: if you missed the hearing and are interested in what congresswoman speier had to

say, you can go to c-span.org and watch it there. next call from michigan. caller: listen, the thing that is so irritating about this whole thing is the democrat versus republican thing. when it happens, it happens, and it is bad. it does not matter what party they are on. the only thing that is a possibility of a difference is a or woman, who man has done this and one who has made a mistake, like they say about franken. if franken was a republican and moore was a democrat, i was still think the same about both of them. franken was a comedian writer, so that has nothing to do with it. it needs to look of a job at hand and needs to look at the general character of the person who has done it, and it should be an independent study by congress, doing the investigation.

the only thing about what i really dislike and find disgusting is when somebody hides behind christianity. he says he is a christian, so he cannot have done this. that is such a bunch of bull. it needs to be the person and what has happened and go from there, just cut this republican-democrat stuff out of it. host: all right. sherry in iowa, independent. caller: hi, i just wanted to say that i am so sick and tired of them, the people, saying bring proof. when someone has been -- i would say -- when they have been violated, they carry that with them for years and years, and there is no counseling, no nothing to show you how to let it go, as some of these men have said. have not been

through this think that it is no big deal to us. well, it is. and i believe these women who are claiming this and have carried it for 40 years, the reason they have not said anything is because they are intimidated. they have been taught that men have the upper hand, and it goes back for years and years and years. i am 65 years old. , i have been violated and it has -- i have been violated, and it has never gone away. host: we're talking about culture on capitol hill. congresswoman speier's speaking out -- congresswoman speier speaking up. what is being done on both sides about sexual harassment on capitol hill? guest: speaker paul ryan has made sexual harassment training mandatory for all members.

that will be mandatory in the senate. it was not mandatory prior to this. roll call it a step survey back in july, and four and 10 women staffers said they thought sexual harassment was a problem on capitol hill. they have women said experienced some form of sexual harassment. it is very pervasive here it we will have to see how it changes. host: rhode island, gary, independent. caller: good morning. because i question have not been up to date on everything going on with roy moore. he deniedring, has being told to stay away from the mall? guest: he has. the campaign is touting a former mall employee who said moore was not banned from the mall. but there are a number of former

workers who said he was. denied all wrongdoing in any of these allegations and continues to do so. employees and others say they warned women to stay away. others say that he was banned from the mall, a mall in alabama where he is from. diane, connecticut, republican. caller: good morning. thank you. i have a question regarding to the timing, and i have to say i am not a fan of mr. moore or mr. bannon. i think they're very polarizing with the republican party. the sorry that he won primary. i do not think it will help the republicans. however, my question is, you know, sexual allegations are very damning and very disturbing. i question the timing of this.

as mr. moore has said, he has been vetted so many times for so many positions, and i know that people are coming out now inause there is strength numbers, but there were people coming out a long time before he was put on the ballot. it seems -- i just question the timing, that they came out when the names were on the ballot and there was nothing more that could be done. why didn't they come out and expose him after the primaries or even when he was running or before his name got on the ballot? i am very suspicious of the democrats. i wonder, did they go to the democrats and say something and they said, no, wait until his name on the ballot because that way there is nothing that can be done. i have learned that once the

names are on the ballot, there is nothing that can be done. host: let's talk about that. guest: that is something that i heard from alabama republicans, questioning the timing of all of this. his atoo late to remove from the ballot if there was a desire to do so. these allegations came out after that window had already closed. so that is a good point that the siming made sure that moore' name was on the ballot in a matter what. host: what are republicans talking about next? that theyey admitted do not have a lot of options? guest: i have talked to some senate republicans about that this week, and some noted there is not much we can do without him stepping aside. senator mcconnell said they're are looking at a bunch of actions, including a write-in candidate. it is not clear who that would be. there is concern that would just

split the republican vote, leading jones to win, the first of a credit to win in two decades. host: alabama, independent. i want to. bowman, say that you're very beautiful. discussed it in the way we treat our women overall. as agent or, i believe we hold gender,ck a lot -- as a i believe we hold women back a lot. we need to treat our women better. i am from alabama. i do not know too much about roy moore, but i do believe he is guilty, not just because of women but also other allegations. they told him to stay away from the mall. the whole political system just needs to go, all of them, republicans, democrats. the president is a liar. roy moore is a liar.

jeff sessions is a liar. we just need to start over. park,helen, tacoma maryland, democrat. caller: good morning. alabama, thesein were young woman. they were afraid to say something, and he was adjudged by the time. and the democrats, franken, he even said he is sorry to this woman. that one, he is a comedian. he jokes. his job was that. leave it there. bridget bowman, where are the polls in alabama right now ahead of this december 12 special election? some viewers believe the accusations and some do not. guest: it has been a little bit

all over the place since the allegations came out. a recent poll from fox news last night showed jones several points ahead of moore. if you look of the average, they are essentially tied, which is remarkable given how republican alabama is. but this is a special election in the middle of december, so turnout could be very low. it could be hard to predict who will show up. the polls are preliminary sense of how the allegations are affecting this. host: a lot of attention focused on alabama though. bridget bowman