Republican Family Values

The Speaker of the North Carolina House has been sued for alienation of affection, which means that he is accused f%$#ing someone else's wife and causing their divorce.  (It is a tort where you sue the person for destroying your marriage for whacking said spouse's porcupine.)

It gets better.  The woman (A straight Republican?  How odd!) was executive director of the N.C. Conference of Clerks of Superior Court, which makes her a public official, and there are reports that he used his position to coerce her into, among other things, group sex, using the threat of defunding the conference.

Just to be clear, these are only allegations, and has not been proven in court nor has any detailed information been released to the public yet.

A lawsuit against one of North Carolina’s top Republican leaders, House Speaker Tim Moore, claims he had a years-long affair with a married woman, using “his position as one of the most powerful elected officials” in the state to “entice” her into an “illicit relationship.”

“This was more than the ordinary dalliance of an unfaithful spouse and an unscrupulous paramour,” the lawsuit says.

Scott Lassiter, a former Apex councilman, is suing Moore and seeks more than $25,000 in damages. Among other claims, the suit accuses Moore of “alienation of affection.” North Carolina is one of a small number of states that allow spouses to sue people for wrecking marriages, The News & Observer previously reported.

………

Court documents show the lawsuit was filed electronically in court on Sunday.

The lawsuit claims that Lassiter’s wife, Jamie Liles Lassiter, the executive director of the N.C. Conference of Clerks of Superior Court, hoped her “acquiescence” to Moore’s demands would benefit her employer. It claims that Moore “aggressively pursued a sexual relationship” with her.

………

The lawsuit says that Moore’s conduct “revealed a perverse form of symbiosis in which he persuaded her to engage in degrading acts to satisfy his desires, recognizing that Mrs. Lassiter hoped her acquiescence to his demands would result in Defendant Tim Moore supporting favorable action for the organization she represents.”

The conference, created in 2006 by the legislature, consists of the 100 elected clerks from across the state, according to the state’s Judicial Branch’s website. The executive director and staff “serve as a resource for the clerks in key areas of court administration” and ”act as a liaison on behalf of all elected clerks of Superior Court to both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders,” the website states. ………

According to the court documents, after hearing rumors, Scott Lassiter “surveilled” Liles Lassiter in December, finding she had dinner with and spent hours with Moore.

Scott Lassiter said he confronted his wife, who told him that she could not end her relationship with Moore for fear it would result in losing her job and retaliation. The lawsuit also claims that Scott Lassiter confronted Moore at a Biscuitville restaurant in Raleigh and Moore asked him if there was anything he could do for him, “implying that he could use the power he held as Speaker in some way to benefit Plaintiff.”

The case alleges Moore convinced Liles Lassiter “to engage in degrading sexual acts with him, including group sexual activity with others over whom he had power or influence.”

The case is also filed against a “John Doe,” an unidentified individual who “conspired” with Moore. The case documents have an exhibit claiming to be a photo of this person on Scott Lassiter’s front porch without authorization.

It should be noted here that this is a schadenfreude rich environment, particularly given that there have been a number of attempts to repeal this archaic practice in North Carolina which have died in committee, indicating (at least) an ambivalence by Speaker Moore toward abolition of this law.

I am amused.