RALEIGH — A lawsuit against one of North Carolina’s top Republican leaders, House Speaker Tim Moore, claims he had a years-long affair with a married woman, using “his position as one of the most powerful elected officials” in the state to “entice” her into an “illicit relationship.”
“This was more than the ordinary dalliance of an unfaithful spouse and an unscrupulous paramour,” the lawsuit says.
Scott Lassiter, a former Apex councilman, is suing Moore and seeks more than $25,000 in damages. Among other claims, the suit accuses Moore of “alienation of affection.” North Carolina is one of a small number of states that allow spouses to sue people for wrecking marriages, The News & Observer previously reported.
The status of Lassiter’s lawsuit is unclear, but court documents obtained by The News & Observer show it was intended to be filed electronically in court on Sunday.
The lawsuit claims that Lassiter’s wife, Jamie Liles Lassiter, the executive director of the N.C. Conference of Clerks of Superior Court, hoped her “acquiescence” to Moore’s demands would benefit her employer. It claims that Moore “aggressively pursued a sexual relationship” with her.
Moore, through his spokesperson, Demi Dowdy, called it “a baseless lawsuit from a troubled individual.”
“We will vigorously defend this action and pursue all available legal remedies,” his statement said.
Liles Lassiter, in a statement through her attorney, Josh Howard, called it an “outrageous and defamatory suit.”
The lawsuit says that Moore’s conduct “revealed a perverse form of symbiosis in which he persuaded her to engage in degrading acts to satisfy his desires, recognizing that Mrs. Lassiter hoped her acquiescence to his demands would result in Defendant Tim Moore supporting favorable action for the organization she represents.”
The conference, created in 2006 by the legislature, consists of the 100 elected clerks from across the state, according to the state’s Judicial Branch’s website. The executive director and staff “serve as a resource for the clerks in key areas of court administration” and ”act as a liaison on behalf of all elected clerks of Superior Court to both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders,” the website states.
Surveillance leads to confrontations
Liles Lassiter wrote that her husband’s claims “are not only false but impossible as we’ve been separated with a signed separation document for years.”
“To be clear, I’m a strong professional woman, and the only person who has ever abused me or threatened my career was my soon to be ex-husband. Our marriage was a nightmare, and since I left him it has gotten worse. We are reaching the end of our divorce process and this is how he’s lashing out.”
Scott Lassiter is an assistant principal in the Wake County Public School System and serves on the Wake Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors. He ran in 2022 to represent House District 21 but dropped his campaign after the district was redrawn.
According to the court documents, after hearing rumors, Scott Lassiter “surveilled” Liles Lassiter in December, finding she had dinner with and spent hours with Moore.
Scott Lassiter said he confronted his wife, who told him that she could not end her relationship with Moore for fear it would result in losing her job and retaliation. The lawsuit also claims that Scott Lassiter confronted Moore at a Biscuitville restaurant in Raleigh and Moore asked him if there was anything he could do for him, “implying that he could use the power he held as Speaker in some way to benefit Plaintiff.”
The case alleges Moore convinced Liles Lassiter “to engage in degrading sexual acts with him, including group sexual activity with others over whom he had power or influence.”
The case is also filed against a “John Doe,” an unidentified individual who “conspired” with Moore. The case documents have an exhibit claiming to be a photo of this person on Scott Lassiter’s front porch without authorization.
In response to a request for comment, Scott Lassiter and his attorney both wrote that there is “irrefutable evidence” to support his claims.
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