MONTGOMERY, AL — Former US Senate candidate Roy Moore has filed a countersuit against Leigh Corfman, one of the women who accused him of making unwanted sexual advances.
Moore is asking an Alabama state judge to stop all proceedings in Corfman’s defamation lawsuit, calling the lawsuit “frivolous and groundless,” according to the countersuit filed late Monday in Circuit Court in Montgomery County, Alabama. Corfman sued Moore in January.
“This is and has been a political attempt to smear the good name and reputation of Judge Roy Moore, and we will not let this injustice continue,” Melissa Isaak, one of Moore’s attorneys, said in a statement. “Yesterday, we filed claims for slander and defamation against Leigh Corfman, and claimed damages for attorney fees under the Alabama Litigation Accountability Act.”
CNN has reached out to Corfman’s attorney.
Moore’s countersuit comes after Montgomery Circuit Judge Ronan Shaul last week denied a motion from Moore’s legal team to dismiss Corfman’s lawsuit, CNN affiliate WSFA reported.
The judge also refused to move the suit from Montgomery County to Etowah County, the station reported.
In the statement, Isaak said: “We also continue to argue that this case should be tried in Etowah County, and wonder why Leigh Corfman has chosen to file this case in Montgomery and not Etowah County, where both she and Judge Moore reside and where her character and reputation are well known.”
In an interview with CNN, Isaak said: “We don’t think she has a valid claim for defamation. Leigh Corfman defamed the judge.”
A scheduling conference is set for Thursday in Montgomery County, according to Isaak.
Corfman told The Washington Post in November that Moore molested her when she was 14 and he was in his 30s. Moore later said he didn’t know her.
Moore has denied allegations from a number of women who have come forward accusing him of sexual assault and misconduct.
President Donald Trump and the RNC backed Moore in his US Senate race last year, despite the allegations, which dogged him during the campaign.
Last December, Democrat Doug Jones, upset Moore to win the Senate race.
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