Corey Stewart Defends Roy Moore Against Sex Allegations

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — So Republican Corey Stewart came out on the side of embattled Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) over the weekend. Prince William County's brash and outspoken chairman of the Board of Supervisors said during a Facebook Live event he discounts allegations linking Moore, 70, to a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32.

"Until there's proof, I don't believe it," said Stewart, who hopes to challenge sitting Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) if he gets the GOP nomination. Stewart lost the GOP primary for the governor's nomination earlier this year.

"Until there's proof, we're not going to judge Roy Moore," Stewart added, noting the allegations are "40 years old. Forty years old, and they're unsubstantiated. There's no way to prove it. . .but you're presumed guilty? That's not right."

Stewart's stance is in stark contrast to a fellow Republican in Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan, who tweeted this Saturday: "Roy Moore's defenders should ask themselves if they would be so quick to excuse him if the victim was their daughter or if the offender was a Democrat. He is unfit for office and should step aside. Americans are better than this."

Hogan remains wildly popular in the mostly Democratic state, with favorable rankings in the upper 60s in every poll in the past two years.

According to a story published in The Washington Post last week, Moore had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl, when he was in his 30s. Three other teenagers, ages 16 and 18, said Moore wanted to date them when he was in his 30s. Moore and his campaign have fervently denied the accusations, calling the story "fake news."

But Moore's pursuit of teenage girls was "common knowledge" among his colleagues when he worked as a deputy district attorney for Etowah County, Ala., CNN reports. In an interview with the network, Teresa Jones, 63, said she worked alongside Moore when she also was a deputy district attorney for Etowah County from 1982 to 1985. Moore worked as a deputy district attorney in that office from 1977 to 1982.

"It was common knowledge that Roy dated high school girls, everyone we knew thought it was weird," Jones told CNN. "We wondered why someone his age would hang out at high school football games and the mall … but you really wouldn't say anything to someone like that."

Some Alabama politicians have already said they still support Moore, including Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler, who told the Washington Examiner, "The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse."

Not all are so supportive. Senior Republicans and POTUS have said that they think if the allegations were true, then Moore should drop out of the race.

"The allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore are deeply troubling," said Colorado Sen. Chairman Cory Gardner, who leads the Senate GOP campaign arm. "If these allegations are found to be true, Roy Moore must drop out of the Alabama special Senate election."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell added, "If these allegations are true, he must step aside." He took that step further Monday, telling reporters: "I believe the women, yes," and adding he believes Moore should bow out of the race against Democrat Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 special election.

President Donald Trump — for whom Stewart was Virginia's campaign chairman until late in the race following a flap — also said that if the allegations against Moore were true, then he was sure that the GOP candidate will "do the right thing and step aside," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday.

Hogan took a stronger stand than others in his party who added conditions to whether the candidate should continue with his campaign, calling Moore "unfit for office."

Also See: Doug Jones On Roy Moore: It's His Problem

With reporting by Patch editors Elizabeth Janney, Cody Fenwick and Don Johnson

Photo: Corey Stewart official website