30 November 17
FOCUS | Accuser to Roy Moore: "I Sat Quietly for Too Long. No More."
Paul Gattis, AL.com
Excerpt: "I am not getting paid for speaking up. I am not getting rewarded from your political opponents. What I am getting is stronger by refusing to blame myself and speaking the truth out loud."
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Paul Gattis, AL.com
Excerpt: "I am not getting paid for speaking up. I am not getting rewarded from your political opponents. What I am getting is stronger by refusing to blame myself and speaking the truth out loud."
READ MORE
n an impassioned letter released exclusively today to AL.com, Leigh Corfman, who accused Roy Moore of undressing her when she was 14 and he was 32, demanded the Republican Senate candidate stop calling her a liar, and attacking her character and end his "smears and false denials."
AL.com received a copy of the letter in person from Corfman. She declined to comment beyond what was contained in the letter.
"I am not getting paid for speaking up. I am not getting rewarded from your political opponents. What I am getting is stronger by refusing to blame myself and speaking the truth out loud," the letter states.
"The initial barrage of attacks against me voiced by your campaign spokespersons and others seemed petty so I did not respond."
However, Corfman decided to write the open letter after hearing Moore's own remarks last night at a rally in Henagar, his first public appearance in nearly two weeks.
Moore on Monday gave no new insight on the allegations that have hounded his campaign for the past 21/2 weeks, saying again the accusations he made unwanted romantic or sexual advances on teenage girls almost 40 years ago are "completely false."
"I don't know any of (the women)," he said.
Corfman has said that when she was 14 Moore, who was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, took her to his home where he removed her clothes and touched her over her bra and underwear. He was wearing his underwear at the time, Corfman said.
"I felt like I was the one to blame," she told The Today Show . "I was a 14-year-old child trying to play in an adult's world and he was 32-years-old."
Here is the letter in its entirety:
Mr. Moore,
When the Washington Post approached me about what you did to me as a child, I told them what happened, just as I had told family and friends years before. I stand by every word.
You responded by denying the truth. You told the world that you didn't even know me. Others in recent days have had the decency to acknowledge their hurtful actions and apologize for similar behavior, but not you.
So I gave an interview on television so that people could judge for themselves whether I was telling the truth.
You sent out your spokesmen to call me a liar. Day after day.
Finally, last night, you did the dirty work yourself. You called me malicious, and you questioned my motivation in going public.
I explained my motivation on the Today show. I said that this is not political for me, this is personal. As a 14-year old, I did not deserve to have you, a 32-year old, prey on me. I sat quietly for too long, out of concern for my family. No more.
I am not getting paid for speaking up. I am not getting rewarded from your political opponents. What I am getting is stronger by refusing to blame myself and speaking the truth out loud.
The initial barrage of attacks against me voiced by your campaign spokespersons and others seemed petty so I did not respond.
But when you personally denounced me last night and called me slanderous names, I decided that I am done being silent. What you did to me when I was 14-years old should be revolting to every person of good morals. But now you are attacking my honesty and integrity. Where does your immorality end?
I demand that you stop calling me a liar and attacking my character. Your smears and false denials, and those of others who repeat and embellish them, are defamatory and damaging to me and my family.
I am telling the truth, and you should have the decency to admit it and apologize.
Leigh Corfman
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