SIGNIFICANT OR INCONSEQUENTIAL?
by Sharon Rondeau, h/t TB, et al
Another partner in the firm, K. Edward Sexton II, represented Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore accuser Leigh Corfman until very recently, according to a November 9 report at AL.com and a conversation The Post & Email had with the law firm’s receptionist on Wednesday.
The AL.com article did not reveal Gentle’s position within the Democratic Party nor in which capacity Sexton represented Corfman.
The three-paragraph Medium.com column contains a brief biography of Gentle, including the statement, “In addition to his legal experience, Ed Gentle serves as treasurer for the Alabama Democratic Party.”
The remaining two paragraphs consist of an announcement that on August 15, Doug Jones won the party’s nomination for the vacant Alabama U.S. Senate seat.
In February, Donald Trump’s nomination of then-Alabama U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for U.S. Attorney General was approved, leaving Alabama with only one senator. Constitutionally, the chief executive, or governor, of each state appoints a person to fill a vacant Senate seat for the remainder of the term. However, Alabama has a state law which provides for a special election in that circumstance so that the people can make the decision.
“Jones faces an uphill battle, as the Democrats haven’t won an Alabama Senate race since Richard C. Shelby claimed a second term in 1992. However, Jones, who is best known for leading a case to convict two perpetrators of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, has received endorsements from prominent Democrats such as Joe Biden, John Lewis, and Terri A. Sewell,” the last paragraph of Gentle’s article reads.
In performing research for this article, The Post & Email noted that the November 9, 2017 AL.com article quoting Sexton was updated on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 at 12:08 p.m., although the original authors, Connor Sheets and Anna Claire Vollers, do not indicate which information was changed.
As reported on Wednesday, the article curiously did not come up in a general internet search, but rather, was located by having been quoted in a sole blog post.
As of Thursday morning, there are two bylines to the story:
On Wednesday evening, The Post & Email contacted the Alabama Democratic Party to inquire as to whether or not an “Edgar Gentle” served in any official capacity within the organization. As of press time, which is 8:45 AM EST, we have not received a response but will update this post should it arrive later.
Moore has denied Corfman’s accusations as well as those made by a number of other women alleging that he harassed them as they worked in stores at the Gadsden Mall, purchased alcohol for one of them when she was allegedly underage, and sexually assaulted a 16-year-old after offering her a ride home in 1977 from her job as a waitress.
Moore has claimed that the media is “harassing” him about the allegations and said that he will sue The Washington Post, which first reported, also on November 9, Corfman’s and others’ alleged experiences with him when they were teenagers.
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