North Carolina Republican House Speaker Tim Moore acknowledged in an interview with WBTV Tuesday that he had a “casual relationship” with Jamie Liles Lassiter, a state employee who is married but Moore said was separated from her husband.
Moore denied allegations in a lawsuit by Lassiter’s estranged husband that he used his political power to start or continue the relationship. He said he strongly denied those allegations in a meeting with Republican House members, calling then utterly false.
“But I also told them that, when it came to Miss Lassiter, that she’s separated, I’m a divorced man and that we had a casual relationship for some time,” Moore said.
He added, “About the situation in December that was alleged, where we had dinner together, we did, where we spent time together thereafter. And then where I actually met with her estranged husband a few days later where I acknowledged to him the same thing, as well as well as my understanding that they were, in fact, separated.”
Read more: Lawsuit alleges NC House Speaker Tim Moore had affair with state employee
Jamie Liles Lassiter’s husband, Scott Lassiter, filed an “alienation of affection” lawsuit against Moore on Sunday.
He claims that Moore used his power to entice his wife into a relationship and it was “more than the ordinary dalliance of an unfaithful spouse and an unscrupulous paramour.”
Scott Lassiter claims in his lawsuit that Moore and Jamie Liles Lassiter had an affair for more than three years.
Moore was not asked in the interview when the affair began or how long the Lassiters have been separated.