You know, I thought North Carolina got rid of its alienation of affection law. I guess not since a former Apex city council member is suing state House Speaker Tim Moore for breaking up his marriage. And, man, is it salacious.
While the details are juicy, the affair isn’t the problem. It might be a headache, but not career ending. The GOP and its evangelical base have sanctioned paying hush money to porn stars. Hell, the GOP base has been getting screwed by Republican leaders for years and they keep asking for more (no pun intended). A simple affair with a married woman seems tame in comparison.
No, the problem for Moore lies in the allegations that he had an affair with an at-will state employee who believes she got preferential treatment because of the sex and was concerned the Speaker would take it out on her and her organization, the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court, if she ended the affair. The allegation also alleges that Moore and his paramour, Jamie Liles Lassiter, had group sex with other people seeking favors from Moore. Trading sex for political favors could force Moore out.
Moore has denied the allegations and Liles Lassiter says that the couple has been separated for years. The jilted husband, Scott Lassiter, claims that the couple were living together until January of this year. His wife told WRAL, “We are reaching the end of our divorce process and this is how he’s lashing out.”
All of that should be verifiable. Either they have a separation agreement or they don’t. They can’t be nearing the end of the divorce if, as Scott Lassiter says, they separated on January 11 because, in North Carolina, couples must be separated for a year before a divorce proceedings can begin. It’s hard to believe that attorneys would file a suit like that if they knew a separation agreement was in place. Lassiter is represented by former Wake County District Court Judge Kristin Ruth.
Timing of the lawsuit is bad for Moore. He’s in the middle of budget negotiations and trying to get the legislature out of town. This lawsuit will certainly be a distraction unless Liles Lassiter can quickly prove that she and her husband have been separated for years, as she claims. Regardless, the week is off to a rough start for the Speaker.
After Tricia Cotham switched parties rumors swirled that Moore and Cotham were involved in a romantic relationship. Even if it was true, both were not married. I never believed she switched parties because of a relationship with Moore, though she does seem to drawn to men in powerful political positions. Cotham married Jerry Meek when he was chair of the state Democratic Party.
These allegations, though, are much more serious if they’re true. They claim an abuse of power in addition to alienation of affection. They also insinuate a pattern of trading sex for preferential treatment. The lawsuit says Moore had group sex with people seeking favors from him. Scott Lassiter and his attorneys will need to come up somebody to corroborate those allegations.
The end of session just got a lot more interesting.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Ugh, this article makes me need a shower!
Alienation if affection is the kind of thing you expect to see in states where people who graduate high school before they get married are called old maids. Yet here we are, and I’m willing to wager Republicans are the reason those laws are still on the books.
Hope Tim Moore was careful about not using his state phone or hiring some doofus to plant a camera at Scott Lassiter’s house.
It’s good to be the King.
But you’re right, it speaks to an abuse of power and entitlement that is beyond the pale if true. Someone is sure to mention John Edwards and Cal Cunningham in rebuttal, so lets just it out of the way. They were not the Speaker of the NC House. They did not hold budget authority over at will employees. Not that I condone their actions; I don’t. Edwards lost his bid for the White House and Cunningham lost his for the US Senate against Thom Tillis.
If this proves itself to be true however, when is Tim Moore going to lose? The party of morals and principles seems to be lacking a few of those very talking points amongst its leadership. Like so many other things with Republican voters, morals and principles only count when you want or need them to. Doesn’t really mean a whole lot in the final analysis.
This pseudo Christian act is out of date. Politicians should adopt a code of conduct that precludes low fife behavior. Violation calls for immediate termination