Roy Moore's Jewish lawyer says in interviews he is a "passionate supporter" of Doug Jones
Alabama attorney Richard Jaffe, who represented Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore's son Caleb, said in interviews Tuesday that although Kayla Moore famously said "one of our attorneys is a Jew," Jaffe voted for Doug Jones. "There could not be a more passionate supporter of Doug than me!" Jaffe told the Washington Examiner.
In fact, Jaffe walked out on stage with Jones when he made his victory speech, the Examiner reported. Jaffe told the Examiner he had been friends with Jones for 30 years and both contributed and raised money for Jones' campaign.
On Dec. 12, the night before the closely-watched election, Roy Moore's wife Kayla responded to anti-Semitism claims by saying "fake news would tell you that we don't care for Jews ... one of our attorneys is a Jew."
The comment was widely mocked, especially since it came after Moore was criticized for his comments on billionaire George Soros, who is of Hungarian-Jewish origin.
"No matter how much money he's got, he's still going to the same place that people who don't recognize God and morality and accept his salvation are going," Moore, a Christian, told radio host Bryan Fischer in an interview. "And that's not a good place."
Jaffe told The Washington Post he is not sure if he was the attorney Kayla Moore referred to, and said "I've never socialized with [Moore]."
Nonetheless, Jaffe said "I was certainly disturbed. Not personally, but as a member of a minority."
Jones, a Democrat, pulled out a surprise victory in the special election for what had been Jeff Sessions' Senate seat. Sessions left the Senate to become President Trump's attorney general.
But a strange series of events led to a Democrat being a elected in one of the deepest red states in the country. Former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley appointed state Attorney General Luther Strange to the seat, although Strange had been investigating Bentley and his office. Facing impeachment and a sex scandal, Bentley resigned in April. Both Strange and Bentley have denied any wrongdoing.
Moore, who as a judge had twice been removed from the bench, won the Republican primary in Sept., partially by tying Strange to corruption in Washington and Montgomery specifically. Although Moore was considered the favorite to win the Dec. election, he was accused of sexual misconduct by several women, including allegedly initiating sexual encounters with teens as young as 14. Moore denied the allegations, but many Republicans called for him to step aside and the Republican National Committee pulled its financial support. Eventually, the RNC resumed its support and Mr. Trump even recorded a robocall.
Even before the sexual misconduct allegations, the race had attracted national attention -- and outside money. Although Democrats suffered a number of losses in special elections in 2017, the national party was energized after winning the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and civil rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis campaigned for Jones, and former President Obama even recorded a robocall.
From Oct. 1 through Nov. 22, Jones raised $10,101,243, compared to Moore's $1,767,365, according to federal election filings that came out before the election. Jones outspent Moore 10 to 1 and campaign says supporters knocked on 300,000 doors and made more than one million calls.
Finally, historic turnout from the Democratic base -- especially African Americans and young voters-- propelled Jones to victory. It was the first time a Democrat won a Senate seat in Alabama in 25 years. Jones will officially join the Senate on Wednesday.
