Moore denies everything — but without specifically denying much of anything. In one interview, he said that while in his 30s he did not “generally” date teenage girls. He added that he cannot “remember dating any girl without the permission of her mother.” How weaselly does all of this sound?
.. Having Moore in the Senate would probably mean more grief for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) than losing the seat to Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.
.. Moore pulled this off by positioning himself as the self-anointed voice of Christian grievance and resentment. “Populist” is too neutral a description. Moore is really a tribal leader, claiming that his followers are the only true Americans — while disqualifying his opponents as illegitimate.
.. The problem with tribalism is that it is absolute. In Rwanda in 1994, you were either identified as Tutsi or as Hutu; there was no in-between. For Moore, you are either among the good people or among the evil.
.. Moore’s philosophy is properly seen as Manichaean, not Christian; it has no room for universal love. The fact that most of his supporters, thus far, are sticking with him — enough to cow the state Republican Party into sticking with him, too — means he has convinced many Alabamians that child molestation is a lesser sin ..
.. Successful demagogues can use tribal enmities to blind their followers to such moral and logical contradictions. Some of Moore’s followers have told reporters they believe all the accusers are lying for partisan political reasons, which seems unlikely given what we know about the women’s politics; most describe themselves as conservative and several said they voted for President Trump.
Some Moore supporters charge that the women are seeking publicity, which is ridiculous; reporters sought the victims out and convinced them to tell their stories, and the women must have had some idea of the kind of vicious attacks that would follow.
.. Moore uses his angry Christianity as a tool of self-aggrandizement. He uses the trust and passion of the Alabamians he defrauds to sully the reputations of women who bravely testify to his allegedly vile and creepy behavior. He rages about filing lawsuits, but don’t hold your breath. Lawyers for potential defendants can’t wait to see what the discovery process might unearth.
.. He can be defeated — but only if Alabamians decide that honor, integrity and morality are more important than tribe
Nolte: Lisa Bloom Accused of Shady Tactics to Shield Amazon’s Alleged Sexual Harasser
The Hollywood Reporter’s Kim Masters is now claiming that Bloom engaged in highly unethical tactics to shield yet-another high-powered executive accused of sexual harassment, Amazon Studios chief Roy Price.
.. her biggest stumbling block was Bloom, who, according to Masters, went so far as to threaten crippling lawsuits:
In my case, one of Bloom’s tactics was to try to kill the story by telling multiple outlets that I had approached Price and Amazon for money to support my radio show. There was no truth to this, as I had never asked either for funding.
.. In her zeal to protect her client … Boom claimed that I had turned on Price after he rebuffed my demand to have Amazon underwrite The Business, the public-radio show that I host on KCRW. I can’t guess who concocted that allegation, but I assume the idea was to establish a potential argument that I had behaved unethically and had a personal grudge against him and therefore didn’t care what the facts were.
.. Over the weeks that would follow, as I began searching for a home for my scoop, [attorney Charles] Harder and Bloom convinced every publication that considered my story that they weren’t just threatening legal action but would indeed sue.
.. After Masters dropped her Thursday bomb on Price, Deadline reported that Bloom was no longer representing the Amazon exec. “My representation of Roy Price has concluded,” she said.“It concluded before the producer went public.”
.. she knew to dump Price before the allegations hit the fan, something she was not smart enough to do with Weinstein.
.. The connection between Weinstein and Price, obviously, is a gateway into the bright lights of Tinseltown. Bloom had a miniseries deal with Weinstein, and Price has been Mr. Greenlight as Amazon Studios expands exponentially.
Harvey Weinstein Speaks: My Apology Is Sincere, But I’m Still Suing NY Times
“They didn’t give me enough time to respond,” embattled mogul tells TheWrap
Weinstein and one of his lawyers, Lisa Bloom, both told TheWrap that they received the detail of allegations of sexual misconduct two days ago, and were told they had until 1 p.m. today to respond.
“We said, ‘What is it, tell us the allegations, we will respond. Harvey is going to be admitting some stuff,’” said Bloom, who was with Weinstein in his New York office.
.. “Two days ago, after begging, they gave us a couple dozen allegations that spanned 30 years and a dozen countries. They said we have until 1 pm today. We said ‘Why?’ They never said.”.. “We have made a decision we are not going after any women or accusers,” Bloom said. “But we have witnesses who said that some of this didn’t happen.”.. Many who read Weinstein’s mea culpa, which included an unusual declaration that he would devote his energy to go after the National Rifle Association, as mitigated by the fact that his attorneys announced plans to sue the paper.
Trump Declines to Release List of His Visitors at Mar-a-Lago
The Trump administration on Friday escalated a battle with government ethics groups by declining, even in the face of a federal court order, to release the identities of individuals visiting with President Trump at his family’s Mar-a-Lago resort during the days he has spent at the private club in Palm Beach, Fla., this year.
.. Federal law exempts the White House from the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, which requires public disclosure of government documents. But CREW and its partners argued that because the presidential visitor records are typically maintained by the Secret Service — which is part of the Department of Homeland Security — they should not be exempt from public release.
.. “The government believes that presidential schedule information is not subject to FOIA.”
.. The Obama administration had faced a similar lawsuit before it decided in late 2009 to start to make visitor logs public, a practice that stopped with Mr. Trump’s arrival.