PHOTO: Local Attorney Bob French Jr., who famously had the task of defending Judith Ann Neelley, made a strong case for Roy Moore's defense this morning. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
FORT PAYNE, Ala. — (Full Video at the Bottom) At today's meeting of the DeKalb County Republican Breakfast Club, Scott Dawson was the keynote speaker for this month's meeting. Dawson is a declared Republican candidate for Governor in 2018.
Before Dawson spoke, Attorney and long-time Republican Bob French, Jr. addressed local Republicans regarding the allegations of sexual misconduct by Roy Moore. French was famously tasked with defending Judith Ann Neelley during her trial for the 1982, "Drano Murder."
French begin by explaining that he was not one of Moore's supporters up until recently, but he had voted for Moore in the Special Election Runoff in late September.
"The thing that bothers me now is that Moore has been smeared. Yesterday, I sent him a hundred dollars; just something to show he had somebody thinking about him. Because I am the only person in this room that has been the victim of a Democrat smear. And it's terrible to live through, and it's hard to combat it," said French.
"People would ask me, 'Bob, do you know what they are saying about you out in the county?' I said, 'Yeah I know, I'm the father of Judy Neelley's baby, and all that stuff.' He said, 'Yeah, but that's not the worst part of it, the worst part of it is the Republicans who believe it.' Because the whole thing was aimed at me because I was Mr. Republican, having been the county chairman and all that stuff."
"At a Democrat committee meeting in Fyffe, a certain politician got up and said, 'Bob French is in love with Judy Neelley, let's spread it everywhere.' And so it started and it went all over the county, and now, as I do these book signings, people come up and say, 'Are you really the father of that baby?'" French continued.
"If I were the father of that baby, he'd be named French and practicing law with me," he said jokingly.
"It was a good smear and it worked," said French. "The point I'm making to you is, Roy Moore is our candidate, he's the only candidate we've got. I know Doug Jones personally; he and I defended one of the ten most wanted together. In 1990, he chaired the committee that selected me as an outstanding criminal defense lawyer in Alabama and awarded me the Roderick-Beddow Award. And I appreciated that, and I appreciate Doug Jones, he's a wonderful person. He's a good man. He's honest, trustworthy..... you name it. But he is a liberal; a dyed in the wool, left-wing, Democrat."
"He's against everything you stand for. And so our choice is Roy Moore," added French.
French said he asked Jack Stiefel to speak today on Moore's behalf because, "I've been there, I've done that, there is no defense, the machine is against you, and you just have live it down. And Roy Moore is our candidate, and I ask all of you, to get out, and support our candidate," French said, to the applause of the group.
French was responding to the allegations made in a report by the Washington Post on Thursday that Moore had engaged in inappropriate conduct with a then 14-year-old Leigh Corfman in 1979. Three other women also told the paper that Moore had pursued relationships with them while they were between ages 16 to 18 in the late 70's and early 80's while he was an assistant district attorney. The Washington Post had also recently endorsed Moore's Democrat opponent, Doug Jones.
Since the allegations, Moore has flatly denied them and resisted urges for him to drop out of the race.
Late yesterday, Roy Moore released a statement regarding the allegations: "Yesterday, I made a statement that the allegations described in a Washington Post article against me about sexual impropriety were false. It has been a tough 24 hours because my wife and I were blindsided by an article based on a lie supported by innuendo.
It seems that in the political arena, to say that something is not true is simply not good enough. So let me be clear;I have never provided alcohol to minors, and I have never engaged in sexual misconduct. As a father of a daughter and a grandfather of five granddaughters, I condemn the actions of any man who engages in sexual misconduct not just against minors but against any woman.
I also believe that any person who has been abused should feel the liberty to come forward and seek protection.I know that a lot of people wonder why this story was written. Why would women say these things if they are not true? I can’t fully answer that because as much as I have disagreed vehemently on political issues with many people over the years, I cannot understand the mentality of using such a dangerous lie to try to personally destroy someone.
As a former Judge and administer of the law, I take the protection of our innocent as one of my most sacred callings. False allegations are gravely serious and will have a profound consequence on those who are truly harassed or molested.
I strongly urge the Washington Post, and everyone involved, to tell the truth.
That is all we can do, and I trust that the people of Alabama, who know my record after 40 years of public service, will vouch for my character and commitment to the rule of law," said Moore.
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Scott Dawson, declared Republican candidate for Alabama Governor in 2018, was the keynote speaker for this morning's meeting. Dawson is an evangelist from Birmingham and has decided to enter politics and run for Alabama's highest office.
After graduating from Beeson Divinity School in 1993, he founded the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association which has grown to host Student Conferences across the Southeast; some as large as 12,000. Dawson announced his campaign earlier in the year on the, "Rick and Bubba Show."
When discussing his reasoning for running, Dawson explained that it was birthed out of a, "broken heart," due to the scandals and problems within our state.
"Three of our last five elected governors have been arrested. This is Sweet Home Alabama.... we almost have to apologize for that," said Dawson. He then explained that he became a member of a grassroots group to find a candidate for Governor, and the group chose him.
"To my surprise, everyone began looking at me, and said, 'we think you are the one,' to which I said, 'no, thank you.' Then they said, 'why don't you just pray about it?'" said Dawson.
"So I started praying through it, and it became so overwhelming in my life, that for a time such as this to serve. I'm not looking for a career change, I'm not in a mid-life crisis; this was just birthed out of a broken heart," he explained.
"There needs to be no negative ads. In fact, I'll make a commitment that we will not run a negative ad, and I'll go one step further, that if I see a negative ad that we don't do that comes out, I'll be the first one to try and pull that," said Dawson.
Dawson also explained that he believes in governing with a, "biblical world view," which should not be confused with a theocracy: "I'm not going to replace the capital dome with a steeple; I'm not going to make everyone believe like me, live like me; we live in a free country. The scripture teaches you to treat everyone with respect. That word respect means to hold everyone in a high regard. When did we let civility die in our country? There was a time when you could sit across the table and agree to disagree, and now it's like if you disagree with anyone you become enemies to the ninth degree," said Dawson.
"I'm just willing to come out in front of you and say, 'if we are going to steady the ship, it's what I believe that if we are going to change the course we are on, you have to have some type of a moral rudder to steer us through stormy seas," he said.
"I've never seen the morale so low in our state. We can ricochet out of this thing, and we can change the direction in Alabama," Dawson also said.
When explaining that he has been studying policy like, "drinking water from a firehouse," Dawson also said, "The future of Alabama is not just found in the latest policy, the future of Alabama is found in the people of Alabama. We have to have someone to lead the people."
Dawson also discussed leveling the playing field for existing businesses in Alabama versus businesses that move in and take advantage of incentives: "We've got to cut the tape of bureaucracy to allow Alabama businesses to grow. Small businesses, they are the backbone of our state. Why would we not want to incentivize Alabama businesses to grow, expand, and recruit? Do you know what Alabama businesses do that businesses that come in from out of state don't do? Pay taxes," said Dawson.
When talking about what he'd like to see change in Alabama, Dawson said, "If I could just lay out before you what I want to see happen, I want to see Alabama's mindset be changed. Where we realize how special we are, where we start putting our best forward; instead of shooting ourselves in the foot."
"I just promise to work as hard as I can everyday for the State of Alabama," concluded Dawson.
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