TRIAL OPENING

Roy Moore’s Lawyers Claim Child Molestation Accuser Has Been ‘Having the Time of Her Life’

Leigh Corfman, who alleged Moore molested her when she was 14, was painted as fame-hungry and dishonest by Moore’s lawyers on the first day of her defamation trial.

Former Alabama Chief Justice and failed Senate candidate Roy Moore was in court Tuesday to defend himself against a defamation claim brought by a woman who accused him of child molestation. Leigh Corfman told The Washington Post in 2017 that Moore had molested her while she was 14 in the late 1970s. Moore has denied the claim, prompting Corfman to sue him for painting her as a liar. “We’re fired up and we’re not going to take it anymore,” Moore’s attorney, Julian McPhillips, bellowed during his opening statement. McPhillips said Corfman only made the allegation to damage Moore’s political ambitions as a pawn of a “$35 million campaign of wealthy folks.” Moore had never seen Corfman until the trial began, his lawyers added, and Corfman had had “the time of her life” in the “limelight.” Corfman’s lawyer Melody Eagan disputed that, saying during her opening statement that Corfman isn’t asking for monetary damages, and only wants Moore to be found liable for defamation. “Who in this courtroom is asking you for money and who is not?” she said.