Virginia Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax on Monday, when asked by a reporter, noted the possibility that Gov.Northam could have leaked a newly revealed sexual assault allegation against Fairfax to derail his possible ascension to the governorship.
On Sunday, Fairfax accused The Washington Post of “smearing an elected official,” reiterated that the sexual assault allegation against him is “false,” and seemingly threatened to sue the paper for rebuking his earlier characterization of the evidence surrounding the episode.
“This is what we meant when we said that people who continue to spread these false allegations will be sued,” Fairfax said.
Fairfax’s comments came as Northam faces pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to resign.
In a post published on the right-wing website Big League Politics on Sunday night, a woman accused a politician fitting Fairfax’s description of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in 2004. In a statement Monday, Fairfax denied assaulting
Collective PAC, which says on its website that it “working to fix the challenge of African American underrepresentation in elected seats of power throughout our nation,” issued a statement on Monday cllaiming it had “learned through various sources that Governor Northam’s team and advisors have now decided to start attacking Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax by spreading lies to reporters and state leaders in an attempt to quell support for the Lt. Governor as Governor Northam’s impending successor should he resign.”
Asked about the statement by the political action committee, which has supported Fairfax in the past, Fairfax did not dispute that Northam’s team could be responsible.
“Collective PAC has made its statement — you know, I don’t know precisely where this is coming from, you know, we’ve heard different things,” Fairfax said. “But here’s the thing: Does anybody think it’s any coincidence that on the eve of my potentially being elevated, that that’s when this uncorroborated smear comes out – does anybody believe that’s a coincidence? I don’t think anybody believes that’s a coincidence.”
He continued: “This is not the first time this was brought up. It was a year ago this was brought up. And The Post investigated three months, dropped the story, did not do it, and they did not do it because it was uncorroborated, and it was uncorroborated because it was not true.”
The Washington Post pushed back against Fairfax’s claim that the newspaper found serious problems with the original sexual misconduct accusation when it initially opted not to publish the account.
“The Post did not find ‘significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations,’ as the Fairfax statement incorrectly said,” the Washington Post said in a story published Monday, sharply disputing a separate statement by the lieutenant governor.
This latest episode follows inside rumors that the leaking of the Northam photo was possibly an inside job. Given Republicans had not much to gain, the line of succession for Governor is all Democrats–the hit on Northam was as much personal as it was political.
While the false claim by Fairfax that the WASHPO found red flags in his assault allegations has been repudiated, his statement, “Does anybody think it’s any coincidence that on the eve of my potentially being elevated, that that’s when this uncorroborated smear comes out” certainly raises a few.
I think it’s a tragedy for all of America. What is happening with the business for The Commonwealth right now? The House is in session and this is on their plate every minute ?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Northam’s folks brought this back out. Is it a leak ? NO. It’s been out there before. It’s simply the childish way politics is conducted these days.
Let’s presume Northam’s folk rekindled this story. Where did they get the idea ? McCauliffe ? Kaine ? Those 2 strongly support any cheap and illegal shot to take at Trump for power.
Virginia politics: more entertaining than a three-ring circus!
Right! Northam was elected with black votes, accusing his Republican opponent of “racism”. Each of these losers, now opponents, deserves every bit of bad publicity he gets.. Keep it up, boys!
This certainly is a surreal drama, alright.
And as these things go, POLITICO jumped into this portion of the fray with an article entitled “Virginia lieutenant governor says timing suspect for ‘smear’ allegations against him” by Caitlin Oprysko updated 02/04/2019, as follows with respect to the “origins” of this story coming to light today:
Big League Politics did not speak to Fairfax’s accuser, but reposted the claims of a tipster who claimed to have permission from the accuser to share her private Facebook post cryptically referring to a 2004 assault without mentioning Fairfax by name.
The site, which was founded by a former Breitbart and Daily Caller reporter, acknowledged over the weekend its partiality to “America First Trumpism.”
end quotes
Doing a math there, it would seem that it is fifteen years ago that this alleged assault took place, so one is indeed led to wonder why now?
Adding to the bizarre and surreal atmosphere here, the New York Times ran a story entitled “Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of Virginia Denounces Sexual Assault Allegation as a ‘Smear’” by Jonathan Martin on 4 February 2019, which gave us this view:
RICHMOND, Va. — Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of Virginia emphatically denied on Monday a woman’s claim that he sexually assaulted her in 2004, suggesting that Gov. Ralph Northam’s supporters were trying to block his ascent to the governorship at a moment when Mr. Northam is besieged by demands that he resign over charges of racism.
“Does anybody think it’s any coincidence that on the eve of potentially my being elevated that that’s when this uncorroborated smear comes out?” Mr. Fairfax told reporters surrounding him in the rotunda of the state Capitol about whether he believes Mr. Northam, a fellow Democrat, was behind the accusation’s coming to light.
He offered no evidence tying the Northam camp to the allegation.
Just hours after The Washington Post published a story on Monday outlining the woman’s allegation — that Mr. Fairfax assaulted her soon after they had met in Boston at the Democratic National Convention — the lieutenant governor said that he and the woman had had what he called “a 100 percent consensual” sexual encounter.
“We hit it off, she was very interested in me, and so eventually, at one point, we ended up going to my hotel room,” Mr. Fairfax, 39, said, recounting in a measured voice what he said had happened in 2004.
end quotes
Now, in all fairness to the dude, I heard that interview, and it sounded to me like Fairfax was saying, “Hey, what can I say, she met me and she dug my junk, and what was I to do, you know what I’m saying,” and my thought was, “dude, you just shot yourself right in the groin with that statement!”
This is the Year of the Woman, and that excuse that “we hit it off, she was very interested in me,” isn’t really going to fly!
And then we come to this line, to wit:
An adviser to Mr. Northam, asked Monday if the embattled governor had been behind the revelation of the assault allegations, denied any responsibility and said the Northam camp did not have the capacity to plot such a move at a moment when Mr. Northam is struggling to retain his job.
The accusations against Mr. Fairfax threw Virginia’s government into a deeper state of chaos three days after an image surfaced from Mr. Northam’s medical school yearbook page showing a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.
end quotes
“Dudes, look, we’re only human and there are only so many fronts we can fight on at us, so it couldn’t have been us!”
And you know what – that’s at least plausible, which takes us back to the N Y Times, as follows:
Monday’s spectacle beside the Houdon-designed George Washington statue in the Capitol was extraordinary: Mr. Fairfax, a 39-year-old African-American, rebutting claims of sexual misconduct and suggesting the accusations were part of an effort by allies of Mr. Northam’s to salvage a governorship that is listing due to the racism that still scars Virginia.
The fast-moving events began at 2:55 a.m. Monday, when aides to Mr. Fairfax — a Democrat widely seen as a rising star in the party — put out a statement saying the allegation was “false” and that Mr. Fairfax had “never assaulted anyone — ever — in any way, shape or form.”
end quotes
Monday’s spectacle, indeed!
As to why the woman waited, or has appeared to wait, which is not true, the NY Times continues as follows:
The Fairfax aides said The Washington Post had investigated the allegation around the time of the lieutenant governor’s inauguration in January 2018 and had chosen not to publish a story.
The Post story Monday partially disputed the Fairfax statement.
According to the story, the woman contacted the newspaper after Mr. Fairfax won election in November 2017 and alleged that he had sexually assaulted her in 2004.
end quotes
So the story has been out there for a bit, as is made clear in the POLITICO article “Fairfax accuser issues statement detailing alleged assault” by Maggie Severns on 6 February 2019, as follows:
Vanessa Tyson, the college professor who accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax in 2004, issued a lengthy statement Wednesday detailing the alleged incident.
“With tremendous anguish, I am now sharing this information about my experience and setting the record straight,” she wrote.
“It has been extremely difficult to relive that traumatic experience from 2004.”
“Mr. Fairfax has tried to brand me as a liar to a national audience, in service to his political ambitions, and has threatened litigation.”
“Given his false assertions, I’m compelled to make clear what happened.”
end quotes
Just saying, but it sounds like Mr. Fairfax maybe has some issues here he is going to have some trouble dealing with.
Getting back to the POLITICO article:
Tyson, now a professor at Scripps College, called the encounter with Fairfax “horrific” and said it has caused her “deep humiliation and shame.”
Fairfax has said the two had a sexual encounter but described it as consensual.
A spokesperson for Fairfax, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tyson’s statement came amid a meltdown at the highest levels of Virginia government.
Earlier in the day the state attorney general, Democrat Mark Herring, admitted to state lawmakers he had once worn blackface and apologized at the state capitol.
Gov. Ralph Northam is in the midst of another scandal surrounding a racist photo and appearing in blackface as well.
Fairfax is next in line to the governorship, and Herring is second in line.
In the statement, Tyson detailed how “what began as consensual kissing quickly turned into a sexual assault” in a Boston hotel room.
While Fairfax’s initial advance was “not unwelcome,” he soon “forcefully pushed” her head towards his crotch.
“Utterly shocked and terrified, I tried to move my head away, but could not because his hand was holding down my neck and he was much stronger than me,” Tyson says in the statement.
“As I cried and gagged, Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him.”
end quotes
Uh, Justin, dude, heat of the moment and all that, but seriously, do you think a jury of your peers would think it was actually consensual?
Just curious, dude!