Allies of Roy Moore pointed out what they said were contradictions or falsehoods in the accusations by two women who say Moore had sexual encounters with them when they were ages 14 and 16 and he was in his early 30s.

Moore had denied both allegations before today, but his supporters said new information backs up those denials and undermines the accusations.

Ben DuPre, Moore's former chief of staff at the Alabama Supreme Court, Stan Cooke, a Birmingham-area minister and former candidate for lieutenant governor, and Dean Young, chief political strategist for the Moore campaign, attacked the credibility of Moore accusers Leigh Corfman and Beverly Young Nelson.

The three men spoke at what was announced as a press conference on the Capitol steps but refused to answer questions after they finished their statements.

"We're going to talk about helping Donald Trump, making America great again," Young said. "So y'all can quit asking us questions. Quit yelling stuff. Quit being rude. We're going to say what we're going to say and Alabamians, don't be tricked by this crowd."

Moore faces Democratic nominee Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 special election for the U.S. Senate.

The Moore campaign has been hounded by questions since the Washington Post on Nov. 9 reported Corfman's allegation, plus stories from three other women who said Moore dated them or asked them out when they were ages 16-18 and he was a county prosecutor in his early 30s.

Since the initial story, two other women have told AL.com or the Washington Post that Moore dated them or tried to date them when they were teens, and another woman told AL.com that Moore grabbed her buttocks at the end of an appointment in his law office.

Moore has not taken questions about the allegations except from Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Click here for AL.com's coverage of Roy Moore.

Today, DuPre pointed out what he said were inconsistencies, omissions or improbable facts in Corfman's story. He quoted a document from Corfman's parents divorce case that says Corfman was having behavioral problems at the time of the alleged encounter with Moore.

"The lies and character assassination of Judge Roy Moore ends today," DuPre said.

In the Nov. 9 story, Corfman said Moore met her at the Etowah County Courthouse where Corfman and her mother were waiting on a child custody hearing in early 1979, when Corfman was 14 and Moore was 32.

Corfman said Moore got her phone number and later called and arranged to meet her. Corfman said Moore took her to his house twice, and on the second visit, undressed her and himself to their underwear and touched her through her underwear while placing her hand on his crotch.

DuPre said Moore has never known Corfman.

"Her story has been told in only the vaguest of terms without any investigation by the media," DuPre said.

DuPre outlined what he said were multiple problems with Corfman's account, as told to the Post and NBC's Today.

"Corfman alleges, number one, that she was with her mother at a court hearing in early 1979," DuPre said. ... "The court documents signed by Leigh Corfman's parents, back when she was a minor, asked for custody to be changed from the mother to the father."

DuPre said court records do not confirm there was a hearing but show that on Feb. 21, 1979, a judge signed an order to transfer custody of Corfman from her mother to her father.

"Secondly, she claims her life spiraled out of control after she was first contacted by Judge Roy Moore," DuPre said. "However, as her own parents said in their joint petition to modify custody and, I quote, 'That each of the parties had become increasingly concerned and worried about certain disciplinary and behavioral problems being manifested by their minor child.'

"This was the basis for them asking that custody be changed from Leigh Corfman's mother to her father, because the father was better equipped, having been remarried and being of a stronger personality to deal with the already existing disciplinary problems of Leigh Corfman," DuPre said.

AL.com reviewed the divorce records of Corfman's parents.

On Feb. 21, 1979, Nancy and Robert Corfman agreed to transfer primary custody to Robert Corfman, citing "certain disciplinary and behavioral problems." The custody change occurred on March 4, 1979. The mother (Nancy) still had custody on weekends from 4 p.m. on Friday until 6 p.m. Sunday.

On June 27, 1980, Nancy Corfman filed a petition to modify custody again and give her primary custody, saying that the "minor child's disciplinary problem has improved greatly." The father lived on Route 2 in Ohatchee.

AL.com's attempts to contact Leigh Corfman, her attorney Eddie Sexton, and Leigh Corfman's stepmother were unsuccessful Tuesday after the press conference.

DuPre noted that Corfman claims in the Washington Post story that she talked to Moore on the phone in her bedroom, but that Corfman's mother said there was no phone in her bedroom.

"So we know that has proved to be a falsehood as well," DuPre said.

According to the the Washington Post story, Corfman said Moore picked her up around the corner from her house.

"However, according to public records that the media has not bothered to look at, we've been able to find that Corfman's supposed pickup place was almost a mile away from her mother's house and would have been across a major thoroughfare," DuPre said. "This is yet another improbable fact in Leigh Corfman's own words and story that the media has not bothered to investigate."

Cooke spoke about Nelson's allegation against Moore. Cooke cited statements from former employees and customers at the restaurant where Nelson says she worked that Cooke said contradicted her account. The comments Cooke cited were initially released by the Moore campaign on Monday.

AL.com attempted today to contact three people quoted in the press release on Monday but were not successful.

The press release and Cooke's comments today attempt to cast doubt on Nelson's accusations, made at a press conference last week with attorney Gloria Allred. Nelson alleged that Moore frequented a Gadsden restaurant, the Olde Hickory House, where she was a waitress at age 16. She said Moore offered her a ride home and then assaulted her in a car behind the restaurant after she left work for the evening in late 1977 or early 1978.

The Moore campaign offered statements from two women who said they worked as waitresses at the restaurant and they did not remember Moore as a regular customer. One waitress said she did not remember Nelson working there. They also said the configuration of the restaurant property would have made it hard for an assault to occur without someone seeing it. Another statement from a man identified as a former Etowah County deputy and Gadsden police officer stated he was a regular customer who didn't remember seeing Moore there.

Attempts to contact the three to verify their accounts were unsuccessful.

Cooke also noted that Allred has refused the Moore campaign's request to allow a neutral analyst to examine what Nelson says is Moore's signature in her high school yearbook. The Moore campaign has suggested it is a forgery.

Allred has said she would only allow the yearbook to be examined if a U.S. Senate committee calls a hearing on the matter and takes testimony under oath.

In a statement today, Allred called the latest assertions from Moore's campaign "a desperate attempt to continue to discredit Beverly and to divert the attention of voters from the fact that Roy Moore still has refused to state if he will testify under oath before a Senate Committee as to Beverly's serious accusations against him.

"Mr. Moore, will you or will you not agree to testify under oath before the United States Senate as Beverly has volunteered to do or will you hide behind a dumpster and the garbage that your campaign is collecting and distributing on a daily basis?"

In interviews on MSNBC and CNN, Allred has declined to answer when asked how the yearbook signature was authenticated and whether she was sure it was not a forgery.

Updated at 6:55 p.m. to add last sentence. Updated at 7:42 p.m. to correct a reference in the eighth paragraph to the number of women who, since the initial story came out, have said Moore dated them or attempted to date them when they were teens. Edited at 11:13 p.m. to correct spelling of Corfman.



AL.com reporters William Thornton and Amy Yurkanin contributed to this report.