Roy Moore threatened to sue one of his accusers. Now she's suing him

The former Alabama Senate candidate is being sued by one of the women who accused him of sexual misconduct

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published January 5, 2018 9:17AM (EST)

Roy Moore (Getty/Drew Angerer)
Roy Moore (Getty/Drew Angerer)

Former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore is being sued for defamation by one of the women who accused him of sexual misconduct during the 2017 campaign.

Leigh Corfman, who rocked the 2017 Senate election when she accused Republican candidate Roy Moore of sexually touching her when she was 14, is suing Moore based on his attacks against her after she came forward with her accusation, according to The Washington Post. Corfman is only requesting compensation for her legal costs, according to attorney Neil Roman, as well as a declaration judgment of defamation, a court-enforced ban against Moore or his campaign from publicly attacking Corfman in the future and a public apology from Moore for his past statements.

A representative from Moore's campaign responded to the announcement of the lawsuit by saying, "We look forward to transparently discussing these matters in a court of law."

Corfman said that, in 1979, when she was 14 and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, he undressed her at his house, fondled her over her underwear and attempted to get her to fondle him over his underwear. In response to these accusations, Moore accused Corfman of being "politically motivated," "malicious" and "completely false," as well as asserting on multiple occasions that he had never met Corfman.

These are the claims that Corfman is now claiming were defamatory.

Moore himself threatened to engage in lawsuits to restore his reputation as an increasing number of sexual misconduct claims came out against him. In November he threatened to sue The Washington Post, which had reported many of the initial accusations against Moore. The Alabama politician was taking a page from the book of other powerful men who have tried to silence accusers by suing the media outlets which publicize their claims, including President Donald Trump and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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2017 Alabama Senate Election Leigh Corfman Roy Moore