By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The Daily Beast reported that U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore appears to have left as much as $150,000 in income off of his Senate financial disclosure forms when it was compared to his state of Alabama ethics disclosure form, which he filed two months earlier.
There are also debts on the state form that appear to have been left off of the federal filing.
“In filings with the Alabama Ethics Commission, Moore, the former chief justice of the state supreme court, listed between $50,000 and $150,000 in honoraria received last year for various speaking engagements,” the article said. “But in a filing with the Senate Ethics Committee two months later, he explicitly denied having received any payments last year ‘for an article, speech, or appearance.’”
The article continued, “Moore’s Senate disclosure filing also stated that neither he or his wife had any outstanding liabilities last year of more than $10,000. But in his Alabama filing, Moore listed between $150,000 and $250,000 in liabilities owed to a credit union or savings and loan (or a credit card issued by one of them) in 2016.” “Moore’s Senate disclosure filing also stated that neither he or his wife had any outstanding liabilities last year of more than $10,000. But in his Alabama filing, Moore listed between $150,000 and $250,000 in liabilities owed to a credit union or savings and loan (or a credit card issued by one of them) in 2016.”
The article quoted the director of the federal reform project at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit watchdog group who said that Moore’s financial reporting discrepancies were troubling for a federal “candidate ostensibly well versed in the law.”
“‘What is surprising is that these violations are so egregious,” Fischer (the CLC director) said in an email. ‘This is not some complicated area of law.’”
The Alabama Political Reporter spoke with a Moore Campaign spokesperson who promised us a response, but as of press time, 5:30 a.m. the next day, no response has come.
This is not the first time that the Moore’s appear to have had what appears to be inaccurate financial reporting according to the Daily Beast. Moore reported in a 2014 filing with the Alabama Ethics Commission that his wife, Kayla, received $65,000 in income from her position as president of the Foundation for Moral Law. According to The Daily Beast, the Foundation for Moral Law’s tax filing for that year does not mention Kayla Moore getting paid.
APR has not independently confirmed this report.
Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was confirmed as U.S. attorney general. Moore beat appointed U.S. Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., on Tuesday.
The special general election is Dec. 12, 2017.
