An attorney for the man suing Seattle Mayor Ed Murray over rape claims said his client is eager to respond to the mayor’s accusation the case is politically motivated. He’s seeking a deposition next week.
An attorney for the man suing Seattle Mayor Ed Murray over alleged rape and molestation says his client is eager to respond to the mayor’s accusations that the case was politically motivated.
Lincoln Beauregard, who is representing a 46-year-old Kent man accusing Murray of paying him for sex as a minor in the 1980s, sent a letter Friday to the mayor’s personal attorney, Robert Sulkin, challenging him to move quickly on the case.
“We obviously saw your news conference yesterday, and recognize that Mayor Murray must be anxious to ‘pin’ our client to his story — which (is) 100% true,” Beauregard wrote in the letter, which was copied to “the local and national media.”
He said his client, who sued under his initials, “D.H.,” would be ready for a video deposition as early as next week.
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“D.H. is anxious to respond to your public allegations of wrongful motive,” Beauregard wrote.
His letter also requested that Murray verify he has a distinctive mole described by D.H.
Two other men have told The Seattle Times they, too, were abused by Murray as teenagers in the 1980s. No lawsuits have been filed in those cases.
In a brief statement to reporters Thursday, Sulkin called the allegations false and said, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these allegations have occurred in the midst of a mayoral campaign.”
Murray is seeking election to a second term this year.
Sulkin did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment on Beauregard’s letter.
In an interview, Beauregard said that after the news of his client’s lawsuit broke Thursday, he checked in with D.H.
“I spoke with him yesterday and he told me, ‘People keep calling me, my counselors, my friends, to see if I’m OK,’ ” Beauregard said. “He was actually feeling pretty upbeat. He’s feeling pretty good that maybe this is going to be able to give others the courage to come forward. He was surprisingly positive.”
Murray has not consented to any interviews on the allegations.
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