An apology letter that details past infidelity and abuse could undermine a Triangle man’s explosive alienation-of-affection lawsuit against North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore.
The letter’s contents serve as the latest glimpse into a romantic entanglement involving one of North Carolina’s most powerful elected leaders and a couple involved in state and local government — a scandal that’s now playing out in the public eye. The letter raises new questions about the couple’s marital status and could prove critical to Moore’s defense.
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Scott Lassiter, a Wake County Wake Soil and Water Conservation supervisor and former Apex councilman who is active in GOP politics, sued Moore this week. He alleged that the speaker abused his power when he had an affair with Lassiter’s wife, Jamie Liles Lassiter, a state employee. He says the affair destroyed their marriage, which his lawyer and some acquaintances describe as happily intact leading up to his discovery of the relationship in December — days after the Lassiters appeared together in a Cary Christmas parade.
Moore told reporters Wednesday that it was a casual relationship that dated back to 2019. He said it was “sporadic at best,” and that Jamie Lassiter “always made it very clear to me that she was separated.” Moore denied other allegations in the lawsuit. Jamie Lassiter has called the lawsuit “outrageous and defamatory.”
A Jan. 17 letter to Jamie Lassiter — written weeks after Scott Lassiter confronted Moore about the relationship — suggests that the marriage may not have been as happy as Lassiter claims in the lawsuit. It reveals that Scott Lassiter apologized for having a relationship that occurred after they were wed. “I am sorry that I engaged in an extramarital affair,” he wrote in the letter, which was obtained by WRAL.
Josh Howard, a lawyer for Jamie Lassiter, confirmed the letter’s authenticity. Alicia Jurney, a lawyer for Scott Lassiter, also confirmed the letter.
Scott Lassiter told WRAL Wednesday that he had written a letter as part of a couples counseling exercise but denied having sex with someone outside their marriage. “There are a lot of different types of extramarital affairs,” he said, “and they don’t all have to be sexual in nature.”
He added: “I did not engage in any sexual relationship outside of my marriage. I admit to not being a perfect husband, but I tried my best.”
‘Explosive admissions’
Jurney said the letter was written by her client less than a week after the Lassiters had separated. “Mr. Lassiter was devastated and desperate to save his marriage,” she said in an email.
Jurney elaborated on his word choice in the letter: “Mr. Lassiter did not have an extramarital affair. Years before Mr. Lassiter discovered Mr. Moore’s affair with Mrs. Lassiter, Mr. Lassiter communicated with a former girlfriend and Mrs. Lassiter considered those communications an ‘affair.’ He was using the words that she did, even though he did not agree with the way she characterized the communications.”
In response to Jurney’s claim, Jamie Lassiter said in a text to WRAL: “Please. That is a lie.”
Her father, Marky Liles, said Lassiter acknowledged having an affair during a meeting with him on Jan. 8. Lassiter invited Jamie’s parents to his home to inform them of Jamie’s relationship with Moore and to ask for their help in keeping the marriage together, Liles said. “And he admitted at that time that in 2019 he did have a sexual affair,” Liles said.
Jurney acknowledged that Lassiter had a conversation with Liles about attempting to save the marriage, but she denied that Lassiter admitted to an affair.
The letter could be key evidence in the case, and it could prove valuable to Moore’s defense, lawyers said Wednesday.
“These are explosive admissions that, if found to be true, would make it hard for a jury to believe that their marriage was intact, and that the Defendant alienated those affections,” said Lindsay Willis, an attorney who practices family law at Rosen Law Firm and is not involved with the case.
“To establish the case for alienation of affection, Mr. Lassiter has to show through evidence that he and his wife were in a marriage with genuine love and affection. This letter seems to indicate that was not the case,” she said in an email.
On the other hand, the couples’ attendance in counseling sessions signals that they were attempting to salvage a relationship. “Although these admissions are pretty damning, this letter on its own won’t prevent the Plaintiff from moving forward with his claims,” Willis said.
In his lawsuit against Moore, Lassiter claims his wife told him about the affair with Moore and confided in him that she and the speaker had group sex with people seeking political favors.
Jamie Lassiter is the executive director of the North Carolina Conference of Clerks, an organization that is funded by the General Assembly. As House speaker, Moore has a lot of influence over the state budget. The lawsuit claims that Jamie Lassiter feared she would lose her job if she broke things off with Moore.
While he acknowledged his relationship with Jamie Lassiter, Moore denied other allegations in the lawsuit. He said Wednesday that he never used his power as a state lawmaker to influence this romantic relationship or any other.
“Absolutely, 100%, no,” Moore said. He didn't comment on Lassiter's letter.
Moore has said he’s weighing whether to file a countersuit.
‘Very much together’
North Carolina is one of only a handful of states that allows someone to sue their spouse’s lover. The cases are rare and hinge on the spouse’s ability to prove that a third party is responsible for the demise of the marriage.
Scott Lassiter claims that he and his wife were happily married until Moore started pursuing his wife.
“Prior to Mr. Lassiter finding out about Mr. Moore’s affair with Mrs. Lassiter, the Lassiters were happy together and in love,” Jurney said in her email to WRAL. She shared screenshots of purported personal texts and videos from the Lassiters that she says support that argument.
One text exchange from Dec. 21 shows Jamie Lassiter saying “I love you” to her husband. That same day, Scott Lassiter alleges in the lawsuit, she had sex with Moore at one of Moore’s Raleigh residences.
“Evidence of the Lassiters’ happy marriage can also be found on publicly available social media posts,” Jurney said, adding: “Mr. Moore was friends with both Mr. and Mrs. Lassiter on Facebook and knew that they were not separated.”
Jamie Lassiter has disputed that description, saying in a statement Sunday: “Our marriage was a nightmare, and since I left him it has gotten worse.”
On Tuesday evening several of Lassiter’s acquaintances reached out to WRAL, saying the couple seemed to be together and happy in recent months.
Former Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly, whose time in office overlapped Scott Lassiter’s term on the town council, said he was shocked when Jamie Lassiter told media outlets that she and her husband had been separated for years, partly because he’s seen them together repeatedly, including at a December Christmas Party at their home.
“They were there,” Weatherly said. “... They entertained a crowd of people. Her father was there.”
Scott Lassiter’s lawsuit says he discovered the affair Dec. 22, then met with Moore the day after Christmas at a Biscuitville restaurant in Raleigh to confront him. The couple separated on Jan. 11, according to the lawsuit.
Weatherly said he also saw Scott and Jamie Lassiter together at an event in February and at the Wake County Republican Party’s convention in March.
“They were very much together and left together,” Weatherly said. “I wouldn’t have thought anything was amiss with their relationship. I don’t know why she would say that.”
There are also pictures on social media of the Lassiters riding together in a local Christmas parade.
Jamie Lassiter declined to comment on those events Wednesday.
‘Verbal abuse’
Scott Lassiter’s three-page letter to Jamie Lassiter also apologized for insensitive language and verbal abuse.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to work with our counselor and take specific steps to alleviate pain and hurt in (our) relationship and individually,” the letter begins.
“I am sorry I made comments about your weight or even discussed ‘goal weights’ with you,” it says.
“I’m sorry that I hurt you by trying to grow you instead of loving you for who you are.”
“I am sorry I created a home where you felt insecure and emotionally unsafe due to my verbal abuse,” it continues.
Jurney, Scott Lassiter’s lawyer, said Wednesday: “Mr. Lassiter did not abuse Mrs. Lassiter.”
The letter ends with Scott Lassiter writing: “I am totally and deeply committed to writing a new and more significant chapter in our love story together.”
WRAL reporter Matt Talhelm contributed to this report.