Accuser says she was not paid to tell story
WASHINGTON — A woman accusing Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of initiating sexual contact when she was 14 said Monday she wanted to confront him years ago but didn’t because he was powerful and the encounter gutted her self-confidence. She said she came forward to tell her story only after other women agreed to.
The declaration by Leigh Corfman comes after Moore’s supporters claimed without evidence that reporters were offering thousands of dollars to women for accusations. The state election is being closely watched, as several GOP senators have called Moore to drop out, and President Donald Trump remains mostly quiet on the issue.
Corfman said she was “absolutely not” paid to tell her story publicly.
“My bank account has not flourished,” Corfman told NBC’s “Today” show. “If anything it’s gone down because I’m not working.”
Corfman said Moore’s stature in Alabama — he was a noted attorney who went on to become a powerful judge — prevented her from coming forward years ago. But, she says, she did confide in close friends immediately after the incident and told family members later as an adult.
“It took years for me to regain a sense of confidence in myself, and I felt guilty. I felt like I was the one to blame. It was decades before I was able to let that go.”
Moore has denied allegations of sexual misconduct. Nevertheless, his victory in the Dec. 12 special election would saddle GOP senators with a colleague accused of abusing and harassing teenagers, a troubling liability heading into the 2018 congressional elections.
Republicans hold a 52-48 edge in the Senate, and the narrow majority has already made it difficult for Republicans to push through its agenda. Moore’s name cannot be removed from the ballot even if he withdraws from the race, though a write-in campaign remains possible.
White House aides said Trump — who faced his own allegations of sexual misconduct and was caught on tape bragging about forcibly grabbing women — is uncomfortable with the allegations against Moore but thinks voters should decide his fate.
Trump “doesn’t know who to believe. I think a lot of folks don’t,” said Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director.
Added White House legislative director Marc Short: “At this point, we think he has been a public figure in Alabama for decades, and the people of Alabama will make the decision, not the president, not the leader of the Senate, not members in Congress.”
In the NBC interview, Corfman described an encounter with Moore in which he pursued her while he was assistant district attorney in the 1970s. She says Moore took her to his house, where he spread out blankets on his living room, removed their clothing and touched her. She said she told him she wasn’t comfortable, and he eventually agreed to take her home.
“I was a 14-year-old child trying to play in an adult’s world, and he was 32 years old,” Corfman said.
Corfman said she confided in those close to her, including her children years later when they became teens. She said she decided against going public with her accusations at various times in the past three decades because she was afraid that her kids would be shunned in Alabama, where Moore was rising in prominence as a local judge.
“When you’re in that situation, you do everything you can to protect your own,” she said.