U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that he believes the five women accusing Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual misconduct.
"I have no reason to doubt these young women," Sessions said during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.
Moore is running for the seat previously held by Sessions. The attorney general said he was told by Justice Department lawyers not to weigh in on the race.
"The ethics people at the Department of Justice ... they advised me that the attorney general should not be involved in this campaign," he said. "I have friends in the campaign. I have steadfastly adhered to that view and i shall continue to do so."
Asked by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, on whether the DOJ would conduct a federal review of the allegations, Sessions did not directly answer the question.
"We will do our duty," he said.
Sessions added that the allegations against Moore are "normally a state case," if such a case were to go forward.