The Roy Moore accuser who pointed to her signed yearbook to bolster her claim of abuse against the Republican Senate candidate acknowledged that she wrote notes underneath his signature.
Beverly Young Nelson, who has accused Moore of sexual assault when she was a teenager, told ABC News on Friday that she added notes to Moore’s inscription on her 1977 yearbook, but maintains that the signed note itself is authentic.
Nelson’s attorney, Gloria Allred, reemphasized the point at a news conference Friday afternoon, saying a handwriting analyst concluded the signature belonged to Moore. The former judge says the inscription is a forgery.
“To a sweeter more beautiful girl I could not say Merry Christmas. Christmas 1977. Love, Roy Moore, DA. 12-22-77 Olde Hickory House,” the yearbook note reads.
Allred said she did not ask the handwriting analyst to examine the notation following the signature “because Beverly indicates that she added that to remind herself of who Roy Moore was, and when and where Roy Moore signed her yearbook.”
Nelson has said Moore was a regular at the Olde Hickory House, a restaurant where she worked when she was starting high school.
She has accused Moore of groping and trying to force himself on her when she was 16.
Moore has called Nelson’s accusations “absolutely false” and denies knowing her. He also denies the allegations of several other women who have accused him of pursuing relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, including one woman who said she was 14 at the time.
The news about Nelson’s notation under the yearbook inscription sparked renewed calls from Moore’s attorney, Phillip Jauregui, for Nelson to release the yearbook to a third party to independently test the ink on the yearbook as well as the handwriting.
“The truth is out there, and until she releases the yearbook all we know is they are not telling the truth and they’ve lied,” Jauregui said Friday.
Although Nelson has emphasized that the yearbook note itself is from Moore, her notation is likely to fuel the skepticism of Moore supporters, who have said the entire yearbook entry is a fabrication.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted Friday, “I wonder if Allred told her to do that? WE CALLED IT! Gloria Allred Accuser **ADMITS** She Tampered With Roy Moore’s Yearbook ‘Signature’ (VIDEO)”