Roy Moore’s loss to Doug Jones in the contest for a Senate seat representing Alabama didn’t bring an end to the saga of public revelations that Moore had been accused of sexual misconduct with teenagers. Although the statute of limitations for the initial allegations has long since passed, Moore is facing one of his accusers in court for a new charge: defamation of character. In his latest fundraising push, Moore says that Washington Post is the one who should be suffering legal consequences for bringing the story to light.
The Washington Post reported Leigh Corfman’s story in November. Corfman says Moore took her to his house when she was 14; he was an assistant district attorney, at age 32. She says he partially disrobed her and touched her sexually. Corfman described her fear of coming forward with her story sooner.
Moore said the allegations were all false and politically motivated. Meanwhile, Corfman reports voting for Republicans in the last three Presidential elections.
Moore appeared on Sean Hannity’s radio show shortly after the allegations were first made public, alternately denying and justifying the acts of which he was accused. Whenasked if he had ever dated a 16-year-old, Moore said “I don’t dispute that,” but he assured Hannity that he hadn’t ever dated teens without the permission of their parents.
However, Moore also claimed to have evidence that the victims were lying, and that this was a coordinated attack.
A copy of court filings , obtained by AL , itemizes further statements Roy Moore made about Leigh Corfman throughout his Senate campaign, accusing her of immorality, malice, and lies. The filing asserts that, as the perpetrator of the abuse Corfman describes, Moore is demonstrably aware she isn’t lying.
Moore has filed a countersuit, accusing Corfman again of political sabotage of his campaign, and demanding a detailed sexual history from her, including accounts of her first sexual experiences, and details of any sexual encounters in her life that were not within the confines of marriage, according to WHNT .
After news this week that the Washington Post had been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the investigative journalism in the series of stories about Roy Moore’s past, the former Chief Justice of Alabama added this to a fundraising email.
In a copy of the email posted to Twitter by Politico reporter Daniel Strauss, Moore says
“They spread slanderous lies and made numerous false accusations. They attacked my character. They dragged my reputation through the mud. They even attacked my wife and family.
But instead of being held accountable in the court of law….the Washington Post just won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for their lies and slander against me and my family.”
Moore went on to describe his legal defense as a battle “against the forces of evil” and to call for supporters to donate in an amount between $25 and $1,000 to help cover his legal costs.
While he never officially conceded his Senate race to opponent Doug Jones, Roy Moore’s official page for his campaign is serving, at least in part, as a mouthpiece for his legal battles. Earlier this month, he posted a press release there, calling the lawsuit a political attack intended to hide the truth from voters, and again attacking Corfman’s reputation, saying that she opposes a change of venue to a county where residents best know “the character and reputation of the Plaintiff and Defendant.”