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Conservative Leader on Moore: 'I've Never Seen Him Show Disrespect for Women'

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Watch the CBN News interview above with the Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver.

Many of Alabama's Christian conservatives see embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore as their champion.
 
They believe Moore has stood his ground and fought for them against the things they have feared over the years --  federal judges, liberals, big government, gun control, Muslims, gay marriage and even the right to display the Ten Commandments on the courthouse grounds.
 
Now, some Christian conservatives are standing with him as he faces allegations of sexual misconduct, including the molestation of a 14-year-old girl.
 
Introducing Moore during a "God Save America" rally at a south Alabama church this week, pastor Mike Allison said his support wasn't wavering because Moore never has.
 
"He has staunchly defended the Constitution of the United States, he has stood for the Word of God ... he is against the murder of the unborn by abortion. He is for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. He is against a redefinition of marriage and believes firmly that it is only between a man and a woman. And he is against all threats against the traditional family," Allison said. "He is a fighter and a champion for right ...."
 
Since the allegations surfaced, many of Washington's leading Republicans have abandoned him.  But not President Trump who said through a spokesperson the people of Alabama should determine the outcome of the Senate race. 
 
Moore is facing off against Democrat Doug Jones in a special election on Dec. 12.
 
Longtime Moore supporter John Giles said Moore doesn't bend or change, and his voters value that.
 
"Every election cycle there's this tendency among the electorate to say 'Let's get rid of these rascals. They say one thing and govern another way,'" said Giles, who runs a super PAC that supports Moore. "The one thing about this man is what he says he means, and at all cost."
 
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivy said she plans to vote for Moore because she wants the GOP to stay in control of the Senate.  She said she has not seen any reason to disbelieve the women who have made allegations against Moore, but she added, "The timing is a little curious."
 
Mat Staver is the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, an international nonprofit litigation, education, and policy organization.  Staver says he has personally known Moore for 25 years.
 
"The man I've known for about 25 years -- is nothing like the allegations that we have read about or heard about 40 years ago," Staver told CBN News during a recent interview. "I've never seen him show disrespect for women."
 
"He's been in elected office for nearly 40 years -- high profile cases for four decades.  And not once, did anyone ever bring any allegations to the media during those four decades until four weeks before this important upcoming election." Staver said. "I look at a person who's been married for 32 years, who's a loving father and a loving husband. Who has a wonderful relationship with his wife. His wife is with him at every location and event that he appears. That's a man of high integrity. Not a man who's insulting or abusing women at any age." 
 
CBN News asked Staver if he thought the media was treating Moore fairly.
 
"I don't think the media is giving equal billing to Judge Roy Moore" Staver responded. "Beverly Young Nelson says this allegation occurred behind a restaurant. But what she doesn't say in 1999, when she's before Judge Roy Moore in a divorce case with her then-husband Mr. Harris. In fact, if she was sexually abused 20 years earlier, you would have no doubt that she would have raised that before the judge or certainly to her lawyer to have him recused from the case."
 
"If he's deciding your divorce case and he's the one who sexually abused you, you would say something to your lawyer and have him removed, but not a single word," Staver continued. 
 
Staver also said there's another explanation to Nelson's claim about Moore signature in her high school yearbook.
 
"In fact, when I saw the so-called signature of Roy Moore in her yearbook, I questioned that this was not even accurate," he said. 
"Because no one would put D.A. after their name. Not a district attorney and certainly not an assistant district attorney as one who knows rank. They would never put that after their name."

"Where did that come from?  We now know it was a stamped signature from 1999 -- the same divorce decree involving Beverly Young Nelson.  And the D.A. does not stand for district attorney. It stands for his assistant who he had in the 1990s," Staver explained. 
 
"When he stamped his name to orders, she would put her initials D.A. for Dilbert Adams. That's where it came from. So this really shows some suspicion on this issue," he said.
 
Staver says he thinks Christians across the country want to deal with sexual misconduct, but they must also look at Moore's specific case, in what he believes has been a rush to judgment. 
 
"I think when you look at this case here, you've got to look at all of the facts. You got to look at the allegations.  You've got to look at the person and particularly a pattern. There's been no allegation of any impropriety of any sort for four decades," he stressed.
 
"That has to say something. It certainly speaks volumes. When you have that up against recent allegations on the eve of a political election, you have to pause and you have to not rush to judgment.  We need to certainly take accusers seriously. We need to stop sexual harassment and abuse," Staver said.
 
"I think we have to put this into context with the political election cycle and you have to ask yourself, "Why does it come up now when it hasn't come up in 40 years? And why are there so many suspicions about the allegation that have come forth? Weighing that against a person who has put his life on the line, who's a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. I think you have to put that into perspective as well," he continued.
 
"And I think as Christians, you cannot come to such quick knee-jerk reaction to ultimately destroy a man's reputation when there has been no allegation or hint of such impropriety for 40 years or more," Staver said. 
 

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