Breitbart tries to poke holes in Roy Moore accuser Leigh Corfman's story by interviewing her mom


Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for Senate in Alabama, has his defenders, such as Las Vegas Journal-Review columnist and talk radio host Wayne Allen Root, who called Moore "a Steve Bannon candidate for U.S. Senate" on Sunday and said he doubted the reports that he pursued and fondled teenage girls as young as 14 because Moore is "a man of principle and integrity," and "never in his three decades of public service has there ever been even a hint of scandal." (Moore was kicked off the Alabama Supreme Court twice, but whatever.) Bannon's Breitbart News does seem to be going to bat for Moore, though.
Breitbart published two articles on Sunday based on an interview Saturday with Nancy Wells, the 71-year-old mother of Leigh Corfman, the woman who told The Washington Post that Moore removed her clothes and touched her over her underwear when she was 14 and he a 32-year-old assistant district attorney.
In one article, Breitbart Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein says that Wells "contradicted a key detail of Corfman's story," namely that Corfman talked to Moore on "her phone in her bedroom." When Breitbart asked Wells if Corfman had her own phone in her bedroom, Wells said no, "but the phone in the house could get through to her easily." Wells also told Breitbart, if you read down far enough, that the Post's report is "truthful and it was researched very well."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the other article, Klein says the Post "convinced" Corfman to go public with her story. "She was contacted by the reporter. That's why," Wells told Breitbart when asked why her daughter is speaking up now, decades later. "It wasn't done for politics, you know. ... It was done for personal reasons. And it wouldn't have been done if the reporters hadn't contacted my daughter." Moore denies the allegations, mostly.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How is Chili's saving casual dining? Could others follow?
Today's Big Question Value and TikTok virality bring in the diners
-
NASA is abandoning the climate
The Explainer Climate missions could be going dark
-
Every MCU movie since 'Avengers: Endgame,' ranked
The Week Recommends How did the recent 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' stack up?
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in Zürich
The Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play