WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Controversial failed U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore won’t be able to depose a former Campaign Legal Center employee while pursuing his defamation lawsuit against political action committees.
Moore, picked to represent the Republican party in a 2017 special election to replace the retiring Jeff Sessions, lost to Democrat Doug Jones after sexual misconduct allegations by nine women were revealed.
The ages of the women when they were allegedly approached by Moore fueled the controversy. In 2019, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Senate Majority PAC, Highway 31 Super PAC and Priorities USA.
Highway 31 is funded and controlled by the other two, Moore claimed. It ran advertisements in 2017 stating Moore was banned from the Gadsden Mall for soliciting sex from young girls, Moore says.
Part of his case is connecting the three defendants together, so he subpoenaed former CLC worker Brendan Fischer. That group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that said Highway 31 failed to report contributions from the other two defendants.
But Fischer’s March 3 motion to quash argued he doesn’t work there anymore and that he was never properly served. At a video hearing held March 23, District of Columbia federal judge Florence Pan granted his motion, according to the docket. No written decision has been issued yet.
Fischer said the subpoena was left on his doorstep because he refused to answer the door when service came calling. He didn't recognize the man and was caring alone for his 10-month-old daughter. His wife came home and grabbed the papers off the doorstep.
"The D.C. Circuit has held that a Rule 45 subpoena must be personally delivered to the person named in the subpoena, and yet Plaintiff attempted to deliver the subpoena merely by leaving it on Mr. Fischer's doorstep," the motion says.
The motion adds Fischer "has no connection whatsoever to Plaintiff's case." His former employer, CLC, is representing Fischer, who just started a new job.
Some of Moore's defamation claims have been tossed, but he has been allowed to pursue claims from the Highway 31 ad that said "Moore was actually banned from the Gadsden Mall... for soliciting sex from young girls. One he approached was 14 and working as Santa's helper."