Roy Moore, the former Republican Senate candidate from Alabama, last year.CreditBrynn Anderson/Associated Press

Former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, a man with notoriety on multiple fronts including wanting to govern America as a theocracy, filed a lawsuit on Monday in the Circuit Court of Etowah County, Ala. where he lives with his wife Kayla, writes The New York Times.

Defendants in the suit are Leigh Corfman, Debbie Gibson, Tina Johnson and Beverly Nelson, charged with defaming and conspiring against Moore and his wife Kayla, and of committing libel and slander “by making statements which were false, malicious, and made with intentional or reckless disregard of the truth and with the intent that those statements be published to others, including through state and national media.”

“Those statements caused harm to the reputation and character of Judge Moore and also to his wife Kayla, lowered their standing in the community and discouraged members of the community from associating with them,” the lawsuit said.

The four women accused the former Senate candidate of sexual harassment and of general patterns of behavior belonging to a sexual predator. The reality is diametrically opposed to Moore's portrayal of himself -- including as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court -- as a moral crusader, according to the women.

The Times writes that Moore "has responded with a ferocity characteristic of his long career. Before last year’s campaign, he was best known for his combative stands on social and religious issues. In 2003, he was removed as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court after he refused to take down a monument of the Ten Commandments in the state’s judicial building. After being re-elected to the same position in 2012, he refused to enforce the United States Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage."

Since his defeat, Roy Moore has constantly engaged in online fundraising, seeking supporters financial help to clear his "good name" and to help in his general living expenses.

President Donald Trump campaigned aggressively for Roy Moore, in spite of the sexual allegations, for the November 2017 election in which Moore lost to Alabama Senator Doug Jones, a Democrat.

Our tiny hands, big-prick mind president is running away from his own confirmation of being a sexual predator on the 'Access Hollywood' tape. After apologizing for his comments a year ago, Trump now challenges the authenticity of the tape.

Trump is squirming in his Oval Office hot seat, not only because of the Mueller investigation, but over the growing #MeToo campaign and, in particular, the Roy Moore-Doug Jones Alabama senate race.

According to The New York Times, Trump views the recent sexual misconduct allegations against Alabama Republican senate candidate Roy Moore as being akin to his own accusations.

The Times reports: "He sees the calls for Mr. Moore to step aside as a version of the response to the now-famous Access Hollywood tape, in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitalia, and the flood of groping accusations against him that followed soon after. He suggested to a senator earlier this year that it was not authentic, and repeated that claim to an adviser more recently. "(Note that in the hours after the tape was released in October 2016, Trump acknowledged that the voice was his, and he apologized.)

Republican candidate Moore is accused by eight women of pursuing romantic relationships with them when they were teenagers. At the time he was an assistant district attorney in his 30s. Two of the women have accused Moore of assault or molestation, which he vehemently denies.

Besides Trump's endorsement of Roy Moore for the Senate, Trump feels the need to back the popular argument among Alabama men, asking why the women didn't come forward sooner. Numerous stories confirm that Trump doesn't believe the women accusing Moore, just as he accuses all the women alleging sexual misconduct by him as being liars.

Al.com has a new guest post today by Dabney P. Evans, PhD, MPH entitled 'Why Roy Moore's accusers stayed silent for so long.