Roy Moore Demands A Woman Give Him Something, Or Risk Not Being Believed

Roy Moore’s attorney, Phillip Jauregui — not to be confused with the already disgraced Trenton Garmon — gave a press conference this evening, responding to the allegations that Moore had sexually inappropriate contact with underaged girls.

Well, that’s what they want me to write. In reality, Jauregui had nothing to say about the four women who alleged inappropriate conduct in a Washington Post report. Instead, he focused on the fifth accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, who alleged Moore forcibly kissed her and groped her. Nelson is being represented by Gloria Allred, and at her press conference she presented a high-school yearbook which was allegedly signed by Moore. The inscription read: “To a sweeter more beautiful girl I could not say ‘Merry Christmas.'” It was signed by Moore, “D.A.”

It’s the yearbook that Jauregui went after. The lawyer insinuated the inscription and the signature were forged. He demanded Allred release the yearbook so Moore’s handwriting experts could go over it. He presented a divorce decree involving Nelson that was presided over by Moore when he was a judge. He essentially argued that the yearbook signature was lifted from that divorce document.

The lifted signature argument has already fallen apart. The crux of Jauregui’s argument is that Moore did not use “D.A.” when he signed things back then, because he was the “Assistant” district attorney, and we’re supposed to believe that Moore only used the more formal “A.D.A.” designation when he was signing high-school yearbooks, not that colloquial “D.A.” when trying to impress young girls with his power… or something. Instead, Jauregui argues that Nelson got the “D.A.” idea from the divorce decree, which has a “D.A.” stamped after it, in reference to his assistant.

“Was it written by someone else,” Jauregui asked.

But, even a cursory glance at the two “D.A.”‘s shows that they look nothing alike. And in the divorce papers, Moore uses his middle initial, while in the yearbook he does not. Essentially, the “somebody else” would have to be the WORST FORGER OF ALL TIME, to use the “D.A.” thinking it was the formal way he signed his name, but not the middle initial. A fourteen-year-old would not make that mistake if she was forging her mom’s signature on a permission slip.

Nonetheless, Jauregui demanded that Allred release the yearbook. Allred is not the most careful attorney, so making this about her seems like a good political move. Also, it’s Gloria Allred so… [Christ alive, if she someone messed this up by not vetting her client before rushing to the cameras…]

Moreover, non-lawyers might well see a demand to turn over “evidence” as “reasonable.”

But, honestly, WHY ON EARTH would Allred turn over ANYTHING without getting a little discovery of her own? I mean, you don’t have to sleep with a copy of the FRCP to know not to do that. If Moore wants the yearbook, he can SUE Nelson for defamation and… the game will be played on fair grounds.

Moore expects (wait for it) a POWER IMBALANCE between him and the woman who is accusing him. He expects her (and her attorney) to give into his demands, under threat of nobody believing her if she doesn’t.

Please know that if you expect the same, if you think it would be a “good idea” to simply turn over evidence for no reason and without reciprocation because the angry man demanded it, you are COMPLICIT in the same system that takes power away from women.

Again, if Moore wants the yearbook, he can sue. That’s how the system WORKS if it is FAIR.

This seems like a good time to mention that while I was writing this story, new accusations have surfaced from another woman who claims Moore sexually assaulted her, grabbing her backside in his law office. “He didn’t pinch it; he grabbed it.” The woman, Tina Johnson, claims she was 28 at the time of the unwanted advance.

So… I guess Moore will be asking Johnson to cut off her buttocks so it can be tested for Moore’s fingerprints.

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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.