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A spirit that is not afraid

Roy Moore attends private fundraiser at home of Auburn Republican

Moore left the event in his car with his wife, Kayla, without stopping to speak with the press

U.S. Senate hopeful Roy Moore attended a closed-door fundraiser Wednesday night at the home of an Auburn Republican. The event was closed to the media.

Moore attended the private fundraiser hosted at the home of Bill and Fran Dillard.

Several individuals who attended the event declined to comment as they left. Moore left the event in his car with his wife, Kayla, without stopping to speak with the press.

In an email to supporters, Thomas Sparrow, chairman of Moore's Lee County committee, invited several people to the invite-only fundraiser.

"I know none of us would support a person that did anything harmful to anyone especially a woman or a child but I feel we all know Roy better than this and are smarter than to be head faked by these allegations," Sparrow wrote. "You will notice all of these accusers are careful not to say a crime happened and they just leave it at that."

The fundraiser in Auburn comes after another chaotic day for Moore's campaign. Four more women spoke on the record Wednesday with AL.com and The Washington Post. Three said Moore pursued them in their teens and had a tendency to date teenage women when he was in his 30s.

One, Gena Richardson, said Moore called her high school's main line to ask her on a date. She was in a math class when he called, she said, and Moore had previously approached her at the Sears department store she worked at.

Another one of the women, Tina Johnson, told AL.com that Moore grabbed her buttocks in 1991 in his office where she was meeting with Moore to sign over custody of her son to her mother, who had hired Moore to handle the custody petition.

The new accusations Wednesday come after three other women told the Post that Moore had pursued them when they were teens. Another woman, Leigh Corfman, told the Post that Moore initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14.

A fifth woman, Beverly Young Nelson, came forward Monday and accused Moore of sexually assaulting her in his car outside of the restaurant where she was working when she was 16. She said he left her bruised on the ground outside his car when she refused his advances.

He tried to force her head down into his crotch, Nelson said. "I thought he was going to rape me," she went on to say in a press conference Monday.

The sexual assault allegations and accusations that Moore had a modus operandi of pursuing young women have created a rift between Moore, his Alabama backers, and national Republican leaders.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. Corey Gardner have called on Moore to drop out of the race. Other arms of the Republican party, including the Republican National Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, have severed fundraising and partnership ties with Moore's campaign.

Moore has denied the accusations, saying they are "politically motivated."

Moore's attorneys have threatened to sue the Post and AL.com over their reporting. In a press conference Wednesday, his attorneys attempted to cast doubt on an inscription in Nelson's yearbook she said came from Moore.

Nelson has said Moore signed the yearbook days before he allegedly assaulted her.

The attorneys demanded the yearbook be turned over for review by handwriting experts because Moore has denied signing the yearbook or knowing Nelson.

"The '7’s' in 'Christmas 1977' are in a noticeably different script than the '7’s' in the date '12-22-77,'" Moore said in an open letter to conservative talk show host Sean Hannity. "I believe tampering has occurred."

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Hannity said Tuesday he would give Moore 24 hours to explain away the accusations, or he would pull his support.

The Alabama GOP Steering Committee met Wednesday night to determine their course of action with Moore. They have been silent on the accusations. They have yet to make any announcement about their meeting.


Correction: A previous version of this story said Bill Dillard worked at Archangel Systems. That was incorrect and we regret the error.


Chip Brownlee | Editor-in-chief

Chip Brownlee, senior in journalism and political science, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.


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