PHOTO: Moore speaking at an event last month in Huntsville. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)
By Tyler Pruett, Southern Torch
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A short while ago, the Roy Moore campaign held a press conference in front of Alabama GOP Headquarters on Lorna Road in Birmingham regarding the allegations made that he had sexually assaulted a woman when she was 16 years old.
Campaign Chairman Bill Armistead and Moore's attorney, Phillip L. Jauregui, addressed the press regarding the allegations made on Monday by Beverly Young Nelson and Gloria Allred, who said Moore sexually assaulted her in 1977 outside of a restaurant that she worked at in Gadsden.
"One thing I can tell you is, we do have some information we can share with you today," said Bill Armistead, Campaign Chairman for Moore, to begin the press conference.
Attorney Phillip L. Jauregui, then spoke to reporters on behalf of Moore. Mr. Jauregui served as counsel of record for Judge Moore during the Ten Commandments and traditional marriage cases, and was chairman of Judge Moore's 2000 campaign for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Mr. Jauregui is currently President of the Judicial Action Group.
"It takes time to work through this," Jauregui said of Monday's allegations. "We don't have a $20 million budget as a campaign, it takes time. And we want to be correct, and we want to make sure if we say something it's proper."
"Ms. Nelson, after the allegations said she had never seen, nor had any contact with Judge Moore. As it turns out, in 1999, Ms. Nelson filed a divorce action against her then-husband, Mr. Harris. Guess who that case was before? It was filed in Etowah County, and the Judge is signed, 'Roy S. Moore, Circuit Judge, Etowah County.' There was contact.... Judge Moore signed an order in that case as well," said Jauregui.
"We've also had a handwriting expert looking at the evidence that was submitted. You may remember, on Monday Ms. Nelson and Ms. Allred, Really the only evidence that they had was a yearbook. Everything on that page, they said, was written by Judge Moore. Judge Moore not only has also denied everything else she's said before, but now flatly denies that. He says, 'It's not true.' We have a handwriting expert that's looking at those, but here is the problem: A handwriting expert can't look at a copy on the internet, right? They've got to look at an original," explained Jauregui.
"Right now, (our attorney) has sent a letter, or will send a letter to Gloria Allred, demanding that the yearbook be released. We will send it to a mutual custodian, who will keep chain of custody, and our professional expert will examine it, and determine if it's genuine, or if it's a fraud," said Jauregui.
"I'm not going to make any allegation we can't support without an expert," he said.
Jauregui then pointed out several alleged discrepancies in the signature. He noted that the 1977, appears to be different than the rest of writing. He also asked for the public to look at the words, "Olde Hickory House" which also, according to Jauregui, does not appear to be Moore's handwriting. He also has a theory about the, "D.A." signed on the yearbook:
"Then finally, after Judge Moore's signature, it has the initials 'D.A.' Remember I told you about that 1999 divorce action? Judge Moore looked at that D.A. after his signature, which they allege, because he was the district attorney, well he wasn't; he was the assistant district attorney. Judge Moore says he has never seen his name with D.A. after it, but he had seen it before. Do you know where he had seen it? When he was on the bench, his assistant, whose initials are D.A., Delbert Adams, would stamp (Moore's) signature on documents, and then put D.A. That's exactly how the signature appears on the decree signed, dismissing the divorce action with Ms. Nelson," said Jauregui.
"Knowing these things, I've got a question, Gloria Allred and Ms. Nelson. Do you still hold that everything written in that yearbook was written in that year book was written by Judge Moore, or somebody else? That's not an allegation, that's a question," said Jauregui.
"Finally, we also demand the immediate release of the yearbook, to a neutral custodian, so that our expert can look at it. So we can see the lettering, the ink on the page, so we can see the indentations, and we can see, how old is that ink? Is it forty years old, or is it week old? Is it genuine, or a fraud?" stated Jauregui.
Right after the press conference, the Moore campaign released an, "Open Letter" to Sean Hannity: I am suffering the same treatment other Republicans have had to endure.
A month prior to the general election for U.S. Senate in Alabama, I have been attacked by the Washington Post and other liberal media in a desperate attempt to smear my character and defeat my campaign.
Over the last 40 years I have held several public offices, including Deputy District Attorney, Circuit Judge, and Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. In addition to running five statewide and three county campaigns for public office, I have been involved in two major controversies that attracted national attention, one about the Ten Commandments and the other the sanctity of marriage.
The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, Court of the Judiciary, and Attorney General have investigated, scrutinized, examined, and vetted me, not to mention every opposing candidate against whom I have run.
I have been married for almost 33 years to my wife Kayla. We have four children and five granddaughters.
We are in the process of investigating these false allegations to determine their origin and motivation. For instance, we have documented that the most recent accuser, Beverly Nelson, was a party in a divorce action before me in Etowah County Circuit Court in 1999. No motion was made for me to recuse. In her accusations, Nelson did not mention that I was the judge assigned to her divorce case in 1999, a matter that apparently caused her no distress at a time that was 18 years closer to the alleged assault. Yet 18 years later, while talking before the cameras about the supposed assault, she seemingly could not contain her emotions.
My signature on the order of dismissal in the divorce case was annotated with the letters “D.A.,” representing the initials of my court assistant. Curiously the supposed yearbook inscription is also followed by the same initials—”D.A.” But at that time I was Deputy District Attorney, not district attorney. Those initials as well as the date under the signature block and the printed name of the restaurant are written in a style inconsistent with the rest of the yearbook inscription. The “7’s” in “Christmas 1977” are in a noticeably different script than the “7’s” in the date “12-22-77.” I believe tampering has occurred.
Are we at a stage in American politics in which false allegations can overcome a public record of 40 years, stampede the media and politicians to condemn an innocent man, and potentially impact the outcome of an election of national importance? When allegations of events occurring 40 years ago—and never before mentioned during a 40-year career of public service—are brought out and taken seriously only 30 days before a critical election, we may be in trouble as a country.
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. Because of that, at the direction of counsel, I cannot comment further.
- Roy S. Moore.
