Roy Moore Threatens to Sue Washington Post

[Guest shiloh357]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alabama Republican Roy Moore says a lawsuit will be filed over the newspaper report carrying allegations that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl four decades ago and that neither Democrats nor Republicans want to see him win a special Senate election.

While pressure to quit the race four weeks before Election Day intensified from within the Republican Party, Moore assured supporters Sunday night at a Huntsville, Alabama, gym that The Washington Post story was “fake news” and “a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign.”

Moore said allegations that he was involved with a minor child are “untrue” and said the newspaper “will be sued,” drawing a round of applause. The former judge also questioned why such allegations would be leveled for the first time so close to the special election in spite of his decades in public life.

 

“Why would they come now? Because there are groups that don’t want me in the United States Senate,” he said, naming the Democratic Party and the Republican establishment and accusing them of working together. He added, “We do not plan to let anybody deter us from this race.”

The Post story quoted four women by name, including the woman who alleged the sexual contact at 14, and had two dozen other sources.

Moore also tried to raise money from the controversy, writing in a fundraising pitch sent about midafternoon that the “vicious and sleazy attacks against me are growing more vicious by the minute.” He told supporters, “I’m counting on you to stand with me at this critical moment by chipping in a donation to help me bust through the vicious lies and attacks and get the truth out to as many voters as possible before December 12.”

 

Another fellow Republican, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, urged Moore to drop out of the race. He said Moore’s explanations had been inadequate and that Republicans should consider Sen. Luther Strange as a write-in candidate to run against Moore. Strange lost the Republican primary to Moore in September.

Even if Moore were to step aside, his name would likely remain on the ballot. And any effort to add Strange as a write-in candidate would threaten to divide the GOP vote in a way that would give the Democratic candidate a greater chance of winning.

Toomey did not rule out the possibility that Senate Republicans might work to unseat Moore if he wins the special election against Democrat Doug Jones.

“You know, this is a terrible situation, nearly 40-year-old allegation, we’ll probably never know for sure exactly what happened,” Toomey said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “But from my point of view, I think the accusations have more credibility than the denial. I think it would be best if Roy would just step aside.”

The White House, pointedly noting that President Donald Trump did not back Moore during the primary, said Trump will likely weigh in on the Senate race when he returns from Asia later this week. The White House has already made clear that Moore should step aside if the allegations are proven to be true.

“I think there’s a special place in hell for those who actually perpetrate these crimes,” White House legislative aide Marc Short said Sunday.

“But, having said that, he hasn’t been proved guilty,” Short added. “We have to afford him the chance to defend himself.”

Moore is an outspoken Christian conservative and former state Supreme Court judge. The Post reported last Thursday that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl and pursued three other teenagers decades earlier.

While he called the allegations “completely false and misleading,” in an interview with conservative radio host Sean Hannity he did not wholly rule out dating teenage girls when he was in his early 30s. Asked if that would have been usual for him, Moore said, “Not generally, no.”

The story stirred concern among anxious GOP officials in Washington in a key race to fill the Senate seat once held by Jeff Sessions, now the U.S. attorney general. Losing the special election to a Democrat would imperil Republicans’ already slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, which is hoping to pass a tax overhaul later this year. But a Moore victory also would pose risks if he were to join the SenateGOP with a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations.

In the immediate aftermath of the Post report, a wave of national Republican leaders called for Moore to drop out of the race if the allegations are true. They included the head of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Over the weekend, more Republicans distanced themselves from Moore, including Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Toomey and Short appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Scott spoke on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/13/moore-threatens-lawsuit-over-story-that-threatens-/

[Guest Butero]

I don't think he should step aside at all.  I think he should double down on denying the charges and he should sue the Washington Post.  I don't know how successful the lawsuit would be, because it is hard for a politician to ever win in court in cases like this, but he should still go forward with it.  This should get us past the election, and once it is over with, they will have to wait 6 years to try to unseat him.  By then, I don't think they will have a chance unless they find actual proof the original charges were true.  

[Running Gator]

1 hour ago, Butero said:

I don't think he should step aside at all.  I think he should double down on denying the charges and he should sue the Washington Post.  I don't know how successful the lawsuit would be, because it is hard for a politician to ever win in court in cases like this, but he should still go forward with it.  This should get us past the election, and once it is over with, they will have to wait 6 years to try to unseat him.  By then, I don't think they will have a chance unless they find actual proof the original charges were true.  

Bringing a suit opens up all sorts of cans and closets.  So, while he might be able to vindicate himself from this one charge there is a lot more dirt that could be found on a man that self admits as a 30 year old he liked to date teens.  There is no way he takes this to court, he has way too much to hide.  We have already found out that at least some of his friends think he did it.

[Guest shiloh357]

2 hours ago, Running Gator said:

Bringing a suit opens up all sorts of cans and closets.  So, while he might be able to vindicate himself from this one charge there is a lot more dirt that could be found on a man that self admits as a 30 year old he liked to date teens.  There is no way he takes this to court, he has way too much to hide.  We have already found out that at least some of his friends think he did it.

In Alabama, the age of consent was 16 at that time.   In fact, older men dating much younger women was not at all uncommon back then.   He didn't break any laws, or do anything illegal.

The woman who leveled the accusation has a history of leveling the same kind of false accusation against pastors and has been found to have zero credibility.

What his friends think he did, isn't evidence.   It's the same dog and pony show the dems did to Trump at the end of the election last year.   The ONLY reason this is being brought up now is that he is threat to the Democrat candidtate.   This could have come up during his previous elections to the Supreme Court in AL, but it didn't.   This is a political assassination job. 

[Guest Butero]

5 hours ago, Running Gator said:

Bringing a suit opens up all sorts of cans and closets.  So, while he might be able to vindicate himself from this one charge there is a lot more dirt that could be found on a man that self admits as a 30 year old he liked to date teens.  There is no way he takes this to court, he has way too much to hide.  We have already found out that at least some of his friends think he did it.

I don't want it to go to trial.  I just want the lawsuit.  He can drop it after the election.  Friends thinking he did it doesn't prove his guilt.  

[Running Gator]

20 minutes ago, Butero said:

I don't want it to go to trial.  I just want the lawsuit.  He can drop it after the election.  Friends thinking he did it doesn't prove his guilt.  

You are correct that friends thinking he did it doesn't prove his guilt in a court of law.   In the court of public opinion they carry more weight. 

[Guest Butero]

Given the way things are going now, I see only one solution, and Moore and his supporters better get started right away.  They need to investigate Jones for anything they can use against him.  There needs to be people accusing him of misdeeds to even the playing field.  My feeling is that if they dig deep enough, they will find something.  Then what you will wind up with is something similar to the Trump vs Clinton race.  You will have voters faced with having two candidates they don't like and having to return to issues to decide how to vote.  

[Guest shiloh357]

On 11/13/2017 at 6:08 PM, Running Gator said:

You are correct that friends thinking he did it doesn't prove his guilt in a court of law.   In the court of public opinion they carry more weight. 

But that is not how we determine guilt.   This is a very dangerous direction we are going when a person's life can be destroyed over allegations that never have to be proven, where someone's character can be defamed and they have no legal recourse because instead of the usual jurisprudence that we are entitled to, people can simply be accused of something and the public gets to decide if they agree or not.  

If Moore is destroyed because of this, it sets the precedent for anyone to be treated that way, particularly by people who want to seek revenge or something.  

Do you not have a problem with that?

[Guest shiloh357]

On 11/13/2017 at 12:39 PM, Running Gator said:

Bringing a suit opens up all sorts of cans and closets.  So, while he might be able to vindicate himself from this one charge there is a lot more dirt that could be found on a man that self admits as a 30 year old he liked to date teens.  There is no way he takes this to court, he has way too much to hide.  We have already found out that at least some of his friends think he did it.

How do you know what he has or does not have to hide??

[Running Gator]

39 minutes ago, shiloh357 said:

But that is not how we determine guilt.   This is a very dangerous direction we are going when a person's life can be destroyed over allegations that never have to be proven, where someone's character can be defamed and they have no legal recourse because instead of the usual jurisprudence that we are entitled to, people can simply be accused of something and the public gets to decide if they agree or not.  

If Moore is destroyed because of this, it sets the precedent for anyone to be treated that way, particularly by people who want to seek revenge or something.  

Do you not have a problem with that?

We determine guilt this way each and every day.  The court of public opinion is in session each and every day.  

OJ's life has been ruined by the court of public opinion even though the court of law found him not guilty.  

Harvey Weinstein's life has been ruined without a single piece of what you could call evidence, by the court of public opinion.

There are a whole lot of people on this forum that have judged Hillary to be guilty even though there has never been a single charge filed against her.  They deemed her unworthy to vote for, just like people will have to decide about Moore.

This is also not something new, do you remember Gary Hart?   This has been going on for a long time.   

This is also not just one person vs Moore, there is a growing list of people that have no reason to lie and have nothing to do with each other.   

I could give you a whole list of reasons why I feel that Moore is guilty and you can give me a whole list of things why you think he is not.  In the end we each have to make up our own mind.  If you live in Alabama you will have an additional step of choosing to vote for him or not.  If he is elected then the Senate will have to make up their minds what to do about it.