By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Roy Moore’s attorney Phillip Jauregui and Moore campaign Chairman Bill Armistead provided the media with documents showing that Moore had been Beverly Nelson, one of his accusers, divorce judge.
They also presented evidence that the signature in the yearbook was possibly copied from Moore’s signature in the divorce order.
“As it turns out ,in 1999, Ms. Nelson filed a divorce action against her then-husband, Mr. Harris,” Jaregui said. “Guess who that case was before? It was filed in Etowah County and the judge assigned was Roy S. Moore.”
In an open letter to Fox News host Sean Hannity, Chief Justice Moore said, “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,” Moore said. “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.”
According to the Moore campaign, D.A. stands for Delbra Adams and not for district attorney. Moore was the deputy district attorney not the district attorney so would never have used D.A. behind his name.
Jauregui demanded that Allred and Nelson turn over the yearbook so that independent handwriting analysts can examine it in more detail and so that the ink can be aged to see if it is 40 years old as contended by Nelson or if it is something much younger.
Nelson was not in the original Washington Post story where three women claimed that they had dated Moore in his early 30s when they were ages 16 to 18. One woman alleged that Moore bought her an alcoholic beverage at an Etowah County pizzeria when she was just 18 years old. The drinking age at the time was just 19. A fourth woman, Leah Korfman, claims that Moore took her back to his trailer where he took off her shirt and her pants and then there was some touching of each other’s underwear. Moore strongly denies even knowing Korfman.
Woman number five, Beverly Nelson, announced her Moore tale at a Monday press conference. Ms. Nelson claims that Moore was a regular at a restaurant where she waitressed. When she was just 16, she alleges that Moore offered to give her a ride home, when her boyfriend had not yet arrived to pick her up. After she accepted Moore’s offer she claims that he drove behind the dumpster and locked her in his car, grabbed her by the neck and tried to force her down to give him oral sex. When this attempt failed, Moore kicked her out of the car and he left. She went home with her boyfriend but did not tell the boyfriend because he would have gotten angry. To this point this is the only claim where anyone alleges violence. This is also the only alleged victim to provide corroborating evidence in a yearbook that she claims was signed by Roy Moore.
Moore said in his letter, “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,” Moore said. “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,” Moore said. “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.”
Moore emphasized, “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.”
On Wednesday, the Washington Post released a new report where two women claimed that Moore often came to the mall to flirt with girls. One of them claimed that she went out with Moore, either just before or just after her 18th birthday one time. She said that on that date, Moore kissed her so hard that it scared her and she never wanted to be near him again.
Moore will face Doug Jones in a special election on Dec. 12, 2017.
