Roy Moore pens open letter to Hannity as his deadline to explain allegations nears

Republican Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore has penned an open letter to Fox News host Sean Hannity, in which the former judge denied several of the sexual misconduct accusations recently levied against him.

The letter comes after Hannity on Tuesday night gave Moore “24 hours” to provide proof that he did not engage in sexual misconduct with teen girls.

{mosads}“I adamantly deny the allegations of Leigh Corfman and Beverly Nelson, did not date underage girls, and have taken steps to begin a civil action for defamation,” Moore writes in the letter to Hannity, referring to two of his accusers. “Because of that, at the direction of counsel, I cannot comment further.”

Hannity during his Tuesday evening show noted Moore has provided inconsistent answers about the claims from a woman who publicly alleged earlier this week that Moore assaulted her when she was 16.

“You must immediately and fully come up with a satisfactory explanation for your inconsistencies that I just showed,” Hannity said on his show. “You must remove any doubt. If he can’t do this, Judge Moore needs to get out of this race.”

Moore in the letter to the Fox host reiterated his campaign’s response that separate accusations in a story in The Washington Post are politically motivated, calling the story “a desperate attempt to smear my character and defeat my campaign.”

“Are we at a stage in American politics in which false allegations can overcome a public record of 40 years, stampede the media and politicians to condemn an innocent man, and potentially impact the outcome of an election of national importance?” Moore asks in the letter. 

“When allegations of events occurring 40 years ago—and never before mentioned during a 40-year career of public service—are brought out and taken seriously only 30 days before a critical election, we may be in trouble as a country.”

Moore last week in an interview with Hannity denied the accusation that he, in 1979, had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old when he would have been 32. But the Alabama Republican admitted he may have dated women in their later teens during that time in his life. Moore, however, added that he did not “remember anything like that.”

The Washington Post story also included accounts from three women who said Moore made romantic advances towards them during the same time frame, when they were between 16 and 18 years old.

An attorney for Moore on Wednesday suggested that Moore’s purported signature in a yearbook belonging to one of the accusers may be fake, calling for the book to be released for a handwriting evaluation.

Two new women in a story published on AL.com Wednesday evening described previous encounters with Moore, one saying the former judge groped her in 1991 and the other claiming Moore asked her out when she was 17.

While the accusations have caused multiple senators to rescind their endorsements of Moore and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to say Moore should exit the race, the Senate nominee has remained defiant, insisting he will not quit.

Moore is scheduled to face off against Democrat Doug Jones on Dec. 12 in the special election for the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.