Judge Roy Moore of Alabama said that the $billion law firm Covington & Burling wages a politically motivated crusade against him that is part of a perpetual, super-funded strategy to advance leftist causes nationally.
Covington represents Leigh Corfman, who accused Moore of sexual molestation incidents that she said took place 40 years ago. The accusations are seen as decisive in causing Moore’s loss to liberal Democrat Doug Jones.
The embattled former candidate for U.S. Senate exposed Covington as proof of the legal empowerment arrayed against him while he seeks to clear his name from sexual misconduct accusations launched to destroy his campaign last year.
The Size of the Giant
Covington, and other politically connected mega-firms, use their charitable and pro-bono (meaning unpaid) legal representation to impact national politics, according to Moore.
“This is certainly a giant law firm,” Moore said in an announcement to his supporters last week. It “is not only wealthy but also very powerful and politically influential.”
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is a partner at Covington from before the Obama Administration, and he returned to what Moore characterized as an 11th-floor corner office after leaving the Obama Administration in 2015.
Covington employs more than 1,000 attorneys and as many more support personnel in more than a dozen offices, eight of them in foreign countries. Also, if 2017 is typical, it brings in about a $billion revenue annually.
The prestigious international law firm Covington & Burling moved recently to their new location in a strategically positioned complex in the center of Washington DC, with a view of the White House. (Bookmarc photo)“It was not coincidental that when Leigh Corfman accused me of sexual molestation dating back 40 years, only 32 days before the Alabama special election for the U.S. Senate, that Covington & Burling stepped forward to represent her pro bono,” Moore said.
Legal Tactics
“In fact, one of their New York attorneys briefed her for seven hours for her first appearance on national television after her story appeared in the Washington Post,” he added.
Covington linked up with the Alabama firm, Lightfoot, Franklin & White, a comparatively major firm operating locally, to bring Corfman’s defamation action, suing Moore simply because he denied her accusations.
According to Moore, they proceeded to create a mountain of legal documentation that he has to answer for: a 29-page complaint, an 80-page exhibit document, 15 videos and discovery requests totaling 59 more pages.
“For a half-hour scheduling conference at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Covington flew in lawyers from New York and California who were joined by two lawyers from the Lightfoot firm,” Moore said.
That’s “four high-powered lawyers for a routine hearing!” he added. “In my opinion they are attempting to bury me under a mountain of litigation to ensure that I am never heard from again after my defeat for the office of United States Senator.”
Their True Aims
Lightfoot is familiar to Moore, as the firm that years ago hounded him in pursuit of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s complaint because he opposes same-sex marriage.
The politics that resulted in Moore’s removal from office as Alabama’s Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court continues to hound him now, that much is plain.
These are . . . [an] ORCHESTRATED attempt to silence my opposition to their liberal agenda
The tactics are repeated on a national scale, according to Moore, who noted he is not alone in exposing them.
U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge for the Second Circuit Dennis Jacobs questioned if pushing social and political agendas through the courts by mega law firms actually served the public good. He did so in 2008, 10 years ago.
Legal commentator Mark Pulliam pointed to “pro-bono programs” as running parallel to liberal progressive causes, creating an unfair policy of promoting left-wing goals hidden under euphemisms such as “social justice.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights received support help from Covington in their litigation causes for the abortion industry. In California, this included blocking their Proposition 8 definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Moore said they pretend it is not political, and though criticized for their obvious liberal bias in the use of charitable pro-bono work, press on anyway unchecked.
In his case, this even means a so-called charitable, read: tax sheltered, crusade to permanently silence Moore, a political target.
“These are not mere coincidences, but a well planned and orchestrated attempt to silence my opposition to their liberal agenda,” Moore said.
