Even if Leah Corfman's claims are proven false, there's almost no chance Moore can win the suit against the Post because all they did was quote an on-the-record source. There's no reason to think they published the information knowing it's false, and did it anyway to defame him. There's no evidence one way or the other about whether Corfman's allegations are true.
But Moore is throwing up the home run ball anyway:Senate candidate Roy Moore said in a speech Sunday night that he intended to file a lawsuit against The Washington Post regarding the story it published Thursday in which he was accused of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl. Moore spoke at Huntsville Christian Academy in an event closed to the media. A video of Moore's speech was posted on his campaign Facebook page. Moore again vehemently denied the allegations in The Post story, which interviewed four women who described romantic or sexual encounters with Moore when they were teens and the Republican nominee was in his 30s. Moore brought up the allegations near the end of a 40-minute speech. "About three days ago, The Washington Post published another attack on my character and reputation in a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign," he said. "These attacks about a minor child are completely false and untrue. And for which they will be sued."The very fact that he's announced he'll file the lawsuit - we'll see if he actually files it - is probably a salve for those who are looking to justify continued backing of him in the Senate race. What does a candidate do who's been accused in a totally false manner? He sues. Moore is suing. Must mean it's not true. Does it? I have no idea. Moore's background in the law would surely tell him that he can't win this suit, so it feels more like a political move than a serious legal one. Then again, when you've been accused in the court of public opinion, there's really no due process so I guess you do whatever you can. If you were looking for a reason to believe Moore is innocent, at least of the charges leveled by Corfman about things that happened when she was 14, Moore just gave it to you. I'm no more convinced one way or the other than I was last week.
Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain
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