Roy Moore’s Attorney: Release the Yearbook

Embattled Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore’s lawyer on Wednesday fired back at one of the women accusing Moore of sexual abuse, telling reporters that she is lying.

In accusing Moore of trying to sexually assault her in 1977 when she was 16, Beverly Young Nelson this week offered a key piece of physical evidence — a yearbook that Moore purportedly signed at the restaurant where she worked.

The yearbook seemed to establish that Moore and Nelson knew each other during the time period when the alleged assault occurred. But attorney Phillip Jauregui told reporters in Birmingham on Wednesday that Moore flatly denies writing the passage. He demanded that Nelson’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, turn over the yearbook to a third-party custodian so that a handwriting expert can examine it and — perhaps more importantly — allow an expert to test the age of the ink.

“Release the yearbook so that we can determine: Is it genuine, or is it a fraud?” Jauregui said.

Allred later told CNN that she would be willing to accede to the request as long as the Senate Judiciary Committee or the Senate Ethics Committee convene a hearing in the next two weeks and subpoena Moore.

The passage in the yearbook states: “To a sweeter, more beautiful girl, I could not say ‘Merry Christmas.’ Christmas 1977 Love, Roy Moore D.A. 12/22/77. Olde Hickory House.”

“Judge Moore says there is no way in the world that’s his handwriting. And I want you to look at it,” he said. “Look at some other writing of his and make your own determination. That’s what our expert will be doing, but for now, I’m asking you all to take a look. Use your own judgment.”

Jauregui also directed reporters’ attention to the suffix at the end of Moore’s signature — DA. The presumption has been that Moore signed his name that way because he was the district attorney of Etowah County at the time. But he was not the district attorney; he was an assistant district attorney.

Jauregui said Moore’s judicial assistant when he later served as a judge in the county used to stamp his signature and then place her own initials — “DA.” — next to it on legal documents. Jauregui also provided reporters with copies of court documents showing that Moore was the judge who presided over Nelson’s divorce case in 1999.

The lawyer suggested that Moore’s role in her divorce case undercuts Nelson’s claim that she had no contact with him after the attempted assault. He made a challenge to Allred about whether she still maintains Moore wrote the passage.

The news conference comes at a time when Republican leaders across the country are demanding that Moore drop out of the race. But many Alabama Republicans are sticking with him. On Tuesday, the Republican Party Executive Committee in the 5th Congressional District in north Alabama voted to express support for Moore.

Bill Armistead, Moore’s campaign chairman, said the campaign is doing its best to respond to allegations about events nearly 40 years old.

“This is a campaign, so you can expect most anything to come out, but you know we can’t just stand by idly and let false charges go without answering,” he said.

Jauregui said the campaign is not ready to respond to every allegation made by the four other women named in a story by The Washington Post last week.

“We don’t have a $20 million budget as a campaign,” he said. “It takes time. And we want to be correct.”

Jauregui, who ran Moore’s successful campaign for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2000, said he has been with the former judge at about 100 meetings and has watched him around, perhaps, 10,000 women.

“Not once — not one time — have I ever seen him act even remotely inappropriate against any woman, toward any woman.”

Jauregui said the allegations against Moore have been “incredibly, incredibly painful” for his family.

“You know, in these types of cases, there’s always someone who’s alleging and the other person,” he said. “And in those cases, when it’s true, it’s horrible for the person making the allegations. But when the allegations are made and it’s not true, it’s also horrible for the person who those allegations are made against.”

Here's an excerpt from Rush Limbaugh's Radio Show:

The Swamp Demands Conformity Nov 15, 2017 ... RUSH: Here’s Mark in Port Townsend — where’s Port Townsend ? Port Townsend what? CALLER: That’s a little bit west of Seattle. RUSH: In Washington. Okay. Great to have you with us. How you doing, sir ? CALLER: I’m doing great, sir. I hope you’re doing well yourself. RUSH: I am under siege today, Mark. I’m under siege. The Drive-By Media is after me because I dared to point out that Roy Moore used to be a Democrat. CALLER: That’s why you get paid the big bucks. I’m envious of you. RUSH: (laughing). CALLER: So the comment I wanted to make was that as a retired law enforcement officer, Jeff Sessions — I’m speaking as a retired law enforcement officer — Jeff Sessions says he doesn’t see any reason to doubt these girls’ word. Well, I see a really good reason. None of these girls have been put under oath and made a sworn statement under penalty of perjury. And Gloria Allred should be able to tell you that is the first thing you do when you get a client, you depose them and you get their statement on the record, and then you go from there. And if they’re not willing to make a sworn statement, that sounds really fishy to me. RUSH: I take it you don’t believe the women or you just don’t have enough information yet to make a determination ? CALLER: You don’t have enough information to make a determination, but speaking as an ex-cop, I find it fishy that nobody has made a sworn statement. And about that yearbook thing,you know, when I was in uniform at a certain time of year you’d get kids walking up to you all the time wanting you to sign their yearbook.“Hey, Officer Mark, sign my yearbook.” And I was only a cop. Can you imagine how politicians get kids wanting — doesn’t mean you remember all of them. RUSH: Hang on. On the yearbook stuff, folks, for those of you who may not be up to speed on this —and I doubt there are very many of you — there are allegations that some of these autographs in yearbooks are forged. There are conservative blog sites claiming to have evidence by virtue of side-by-side comparison that somebody other than Judge Moore signed some of these things. This is the first I’ve mentioned that. I’m just reacting to you bringing up the yearbooks. You’re upset with Jeff Sessions. He’s the attorney general, and he is going ahead and acknowledging thathe believes witnesses before anybody’s been put under oath, and you think that’s a little unprofessional, right ? CALLER: It sounds to me like he’s just trying to tread carefully. RUSH: Well, look, this is politics. It has its own court, and it’s not a court of law. CALLER: But these girls are making public statements — RUSH: They are women. They are women. CALLER: Okay, they’re making public statements impugning somebody’s honor. And somebody with responsibility needs to explain to them,if you’re gonna besmirch somebody, you gotta put it on the record. RUSH: No, you don’t. Only in court. And this is not in court. This is in politics. CALLER: I understand it’s politics, but Gloria Allred should know what the law is. RUSH: I’m sure she does. That’s why she’s not in court and is instead on TV. CALLER: I just want to make that point, Rush. Thank you. RUSH: I’m glad you called, Mark. Folks, I have to tell you,I’m having a little fun with this. No, don’t misunderstand here, but he’s exactly right, but of course that doesn’t —there’s a whole different inertia and movement now that is taking place in the world of politics, and there is no room for doubt. I mean,the guy did it, you don’t disbelieve the women. I mean, that’s something you must subscribe to now.The women don’t lie,except if you’re Juanita Broaddrick, then of course… that’s the point. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I was having fun with the caller and his obvious consternationby confusing what happens in politics with what happens in the law,which is ironic, because the laws are written by these people. But what happens thereapparently the law doesn’t matter first and foremost. Find it funny. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Steve in Rochester, Minnesota. Great to have you with us, sir. How are you ? CALLER: Hey, good. Thanks, Rush. Dittos. I’ve been listening since 1991. So I was reading through a Fox News story on the various senators,Republican senators and their comments about this whole situation, and I read read ’em one after another; there were many. And I was thinking as I got most of the way through it,this sounds a lot like your media montages, vis-a-vis gravitas, that I often hear on your show. The similarities were striking in what they said. And it was an observation that led me to think thatthis is really a coordinated attack. And I think that should be the focus, not the “he said, she said,” but the fact thatthis guy’s being attacked by the establishment, big time. RUSH: Let me put it to you another way in the form of a question. Interesting observation, by the way, that you,in reading and listening to all of the different people opposing Judge Moore, they’re all saying the same thing, is that your point ? Just like when Cheney was mentioned as the potential vice presidential nominee for George W. Bush, about 85 media people all said,“That’s gravitas. This is to provide gravitas.” They all had that word. You think the same thing’s happening here with the response to Judge Moore ? CALLER: Yes. Exactly. RUSH: Okay. So do you think —let me just ask you point-blank — do you think that, whether he did it or not, ,b>he’s being railroaded ? CALLER: Yes. RUSH: Interesting. CALLER: Yep. I think this is a coordinated attack, and what spurred me to think thiswas your comments yesterday about Mitch McConnell attacking Bannon’s choice. And I thoughthow else could you do this ? Here we are a month away from the election. RUSH: Let me tell you something. I don’t think there’s any doubt here. When Bannon went public and said thatJudge Moore was the first of many candidates they’re gonna support in order to oust the Republican leadership, I don’t think there’s any question here that McConnell’s reacting to that. Let me just ask you this.Have any of you ever, do you ever remember Mitch McConnell or the Republican leadership ever going after a Democrat the way they’re going after — (interruption) You don’t remember. You don’t remember McConnell ever going after a Democrat the way they’re going after …

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