Roy Moore’s Senate campaign claimed Friday the Alabama Republican is being vindicated of sexual assault claims made last month by Beverly Young Nelson, who hours earlier acknowledged adding “notes” under a yearbook signature attributed to Moore.
The 1977 yearbook inscription was the primary piece of evidence Nelson offered to support her claim that Moore knew her when she was a 16-year-old waitress. She alleges Moore, then 30, offered her a ride before attempting to force himself on her.
Nelson did not initially say that she wrote a date, location, and “D.A.” next to Moore’s signature.
“The voters are going to have to decide: Were they lying then or were they lying now?” Moore attorney Phillip Jauregui said at a Montgomery press conference, doubling down on broader questions about the alleged inscription, including the age of the ink.
“Gloria Allred, release the yearbook. It has been 23 days. Release the yearbook,” he said, referring to the name of Nelson’s attorney and repeating a demand to have the document examined by a third-party expert ahead of Tuesday voting.
Nelson acknowledged for the first time in an interview with ABC News Friday morning that she added “notes” under Moore’s signature to aid her memory of time and place.
A handwriting analysis report released Friday afternoon by Allred said the additions included “D.A. 12-22-77 Olde Hickory House.”
Moore’s campaign previously questioned why the letters “D.A.” would be written next to his signature, as he was only assistant district attorney at the time. Jauregui suggested at a Nov. 15 press conference the “D.A.” may have something to do with the initials of Moore’s assistant in 1999, when the judge allegedly signed an order in Nelson’s divorce proceedings.
At an afternoon press conference with Allred, Nelson stood by her assault allegation and said the remainder of the yearbook inscription was written by Moore.
“I refuse to be intimidated into silence or retract anything that I have said,” Nelson said. “I stand by my previous statement that Roy Moore sexually assaulted me.”
Allred, sitting next to Nelson, said the acknowledgment changes nothing.
“That’s not an issue so far as we are concerned, we’re very transparent. She never said he wrote that. She never said that for one second,” Allred said.
Allred said if Moore is elected, Nelson will be able to reveal additional evidence to Senate investigators to weigh in reviewing her claims.
However, Bill Armistead, Moore’s campaign chairman, claimed at the Moore campaign press conference that Nelson’s allegation, and those of other women, may be lies.
“In the end, truth will be known, and today we’re here to talk about truth,” he said.
Armistead said he believed Washington Republicans were responsible for smearing Moore. He pointed to a Friday report from the pro-Trump Big League Politics about text messages attributed to former Jeb Bush aide Tim Miller. Those messages appear to claim credit for an initial Washington Post story reporting four women accused Moore of sexual touching or age-inappropriate romantic interest when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s.
After the Post article, Nelson and other women presented additional allegations that appeared to add weight to the initial report. Screenshots of the text messages that allegedly show Miller claiming credit for the Post story circulated for weeks to news outlets, including the Washington Examiner, but reporting could not confirm Miller knew about or provided essential information to the Post.
Allred did not respond to a request for comment about the timing of Nelson’s yearbook-inscription disclosure.
