Tag: Justin Fairfax

Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax Says FBI Is Investigating Origins of Allegations That Derailed His Political Career

Eric Burk

Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax says the FBI is investigating the origins of allegations of sexual assault that tainted Fairfax, potentially blocking him from becoming governor.

“Investigators have been given evidence of fabrication regarding the accusations and evidence regarding the orchestration of a lengthy smear campaign,” Fairfax said in a Tuesday statement. “For over three years, I have asked for this matter to be investigated because I knew the allegations were patently false and I knew that I would be exonerated.”

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Delegate Jay Jones Announces Surprise Resignation, Triggering Last-Minute Scramble to Find Candidates for Special Election

Eric Burk

After winning reelection, Delegate Jay Jones (D-Norfolk) announced Thursday that he is resigning to focus on his family at the end of 2021, setting off a last-minute scramble to find candidates and hold a special election in House District 89 on January 11. Jones cited personal changes that have happened since he first announced his candidacy in 2017, including getting married and now expecting a baby in summer 2022.

“As most parents can attest, bringing a child into this world is a massive time commitment and every second with your family and child is worth its weight in gold. I’m 32, a practicing attorney, and have given everything that I have in my soul to serving Norfolk and the Commonwealth since 2017. But my new job-to-be is as a father, and I’m ready to make that the highest priority in my life,” he wrote in a public letter.

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Federal Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Fairfax’s Defamation Lawsuit

Eric Burk

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Court upheld the dismissal of Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax’s defamation lawsuit against CBS. The court said that Fairfax had failed to make the case that CBS’ actions were defamatory under heightened requirements of proof for public officials.

“Fairfax’s complaint fails to plausibly allege that CBS made the allegedly defamatory statements with knowledge or reckless disregard of their falsity, as required to state a claim for defamation of a public official,” the June 23 decision states.

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Ayala Takes $100,000 from Dominion Energy After Taking Funds from Clean Virginia

Eric Burk

Dominion Energy gave lieutenant governor candidate Delegate Hala Ayala (D-Prince William) $100,000 at the end of May, according to new campaign finance reports published by The Virginia Public Access Project. That angered anti-utility activist group Clean Virginia which had contributed $25,000 to Ayala’s campaign; Ayala had committed to not accept money from the utility.

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Virginia Gubernatorial Candidates Discuss Direction and Values of Democratic Party in Final Debate

Eric Burk

The final day of voting in the Democratic primary is June 8, less than a week away. On Tuesday evening, the gubernatorial candidates met for a final debate where they discussed issues including criminal justice, educational policy, and health care. One moment during the debate was sparked when moderators directed a question to Terry McAuliffe, and several of his opponents used rebuttal opportunities to weigh in on the post-Trump future of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

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Gubernatorial Candidate Terry McAuliffe Makes Transition from Primary to General Election

Matthew Hall

With three weeks to go before the Democratic Party primary on June 8th, former Virginia Governor and Clinton confidante Terry McAuliffe transitioned his campaign to the general election with a series of social media posts attacking Republican gubernatorial nominee, Glenn Youngkin.

On the heels of the Youngkin announcement, McAuilffe blasted his Republican opponent by tweeting, “Let me introduce you to Glenn Youngkin: Glenn’s a Ted Cruz and Corey Stewart-endorsed, self-funding, Big Lie believing Trump loyalist who’ll stop at nothing to advance the GOP’s extreme agenda.

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Fairfax to McAuliffe in Democrat Forum: ‘You Treated Me Like George Floyd’

Matthew Hall

  Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Justin Fairfax, a Democrat, and State Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) are not backing down from a fight with fellow Democrat and former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. Fairfax is one of the many candidates who is locked in a fiercely competitive primary with McAuliffe; which includes State Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), Delegate Lee Carter (D-Prince William), and former Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Prince William). During Tuesday’s Democratic primary debate for Governor, Lieutenant Governor Fairfax made a statement that floored Virginia politicos of all political stripes. Mr. Fairfax, when asked about past allegations of sexual assault stated: I was falsely accused in 2019. Everyone here on the stage called for my immediate resignation, including Terry McAuliffe, three minutes after the press release came out. He treated me like George Floyd, treated me like Emmett Till. No due process. Immediately assumed my guilt. (emphasis added) After the debate, former Governor Terry McAuliffe was endorsed by incumbent Ralph Northam in an apparent snub to not only Lieutenant Governor Fairfax, but the rest of the field of progressive Democrats. While Democrat voters and activists continue to move the party farther to the left, the Democratic Party of Virginia establishment continues…

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Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Hears Lieutenant Governor Fairfax’s Defamation Lawsuit

Eric Burk

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax’s defamation suit against CBS on Thursday. In 2019, Fairfax sued CBS for defamation after CBS This Morning aired interviews with two women who alleged Fairfax sexually assaulted them in separate incidents in the early and mid 2000s. Fairfax has emphasized that the encounters were consensual.

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New Poll Results, GOP Candidates Hit The Campaign Trail, and Democrats Hit Zoom: A Virginia Gubernatorial Update

Eric Burk

An independent YouGov gubernatorial poll of 508 internet respondents was released Friday. Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) leads the GOP pack with 19 percent, with Pete Snyder at 10 percent and Delegate Kirk Cox at six percent. In the poll, first reported by The Virginia Scope, former Governor Terry McAuliffe leads Democratic candidates with 33 percent. The other leading Democratic candidates are well behind McAuliffe and are effectively tied given a five percent margin of error. Jennifer Carroll Foy and Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) come in at six percent each, with Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas) just behind at five percent and Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax at four percent. Both races are still marked by high amounts of undecided voters.

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Commentary: Was Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax Falsely Accused?

Admin

At 9:00 am on Monday, February 6, 2019, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax’s meteoric political ascendency could not have been any higher or brighter.  Indeed, Fairfax was on the verge of being elevated to the highest office in the Commonwealth – Governor – due to the political blackface scandal that engulfed Governor Ralph Northam.  Indeed, if Governor Northam were to resigned – which many in the State Democratic Party where calling for – Justin Fairfax would automatically become the 74th Governor of Virginia.  

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Democratic Lieutenant Governor Candidate Digs Up the 2019 Virginia Democratic Scandals

Eric Burk

Paul Goldman, candidate in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, slammed likely gubernatorial candidate former Governor Terry McAuliffe in a Monday press release. Goldman censured McAuliffe and establishment Democrats for calling for Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax (D) to resign in 2019 without due process after allegations of sexual abuse involving Fairfax, who is running for governor in 2021.

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Avowed Socialist Lee Carter Mulls Run for Governor

Eric Burk

Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas) isn’t shy about his liberal ideologies. “Ask me about Socialism,” his Twitter bio states. The former Marine hinted that he’s considering a run for Governor in 2021 in a recent Twitter comment. If he does run, he will be a hard-core leftist running in a primary packed with other Democrats, likely including former Governor Terry McAuliffe, Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and Delegate Jennifer Carrol Foy (D-Prince William).

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After Five More Charged in Connection with June 10 Protests, Leading Virginia Democrats Appear at Rally Supporting Senator Lucas

Eric Burk

Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) appeared alongside former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D), Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Newport News) at a rally of over 100 people outside a Portsmouth church on Tuesday, according to reporting by The Associated Press. The rally came after police charged five more people in relation to a June 10 protest.

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Confederate Monuments Coming Down Across State, Triggering Legal Battles

Eric Burk

Monuments dominate Virginia’s headlines this week.

On Wednesday, Portsmouth City began removing its controversial Confederate monument. Last week, an anonymous plaintiff petitioned the Virginia Supreme Court to order confederate statues removed by the city of Richmond to go back up. The Richmond Circuit Court has scheduled a trial for October 19 to begin determining whether Richmond’s Robert E. Lee statue can be removed.

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Amid a Crowded Field, Democrat Terry McAuliffe Moves to Run for Governor Again in 2021

Eric Burk

Former Governor Terry McAuliffe filed paperwork to run for governor in 2021, joining field of four other Democrats and another four Republicans who have filed or declared serious interest in running in the 2021 primary.

Strategist and Democratic political pundit Ben Tribbett told The Virginia Star that filing to run is not the same as an official declaration as Virginia does not allow exploratory committees.

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Fairfax Accuser Hires Law Firm That Represented Christine Blasey Ford

Admin

by Grace Carr   A woman accusing Democratic Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault reportedly hired the attorneys who represented Christine Blasey Ford in hearings regarding allegations brought against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The woman hired Washington, D.C., law firm Katz, Marshall and Banks, National Public Radio reported Tuesday. The law firm represented Ford after she accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault. The woman claims the alleged assault occurred while at a Democratic National Committee (DNC) conference in 2004. The individual did not name Fairfax, but was referring to him, according to Big League Politics, a right-wing blog, which obtained the alleged claim. “Imagine you were sexually assaulted during the DNC Convention in Boston in 2004 by a campaign staffer. You spend the next 13 years trying to forget it ever happened. Until one day you find out he’s the Democratic candidate for statewide office in a state some 3000 miles away, and he wins that election in November 2017,” reads a message by Fairfax’s alleged accuser, according to BLP. “Then, by strange, horrible luck, it seems increasingly likely that he’ll get a VERY BIG promotion.” The Daily Caller News Foundation was unable to corroborate the claim. Fairfax…

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Virginia Attorney General Outs Himself for Wearing Blackface in College

Anthony Gockowski

Attorney General Mark Herring (D-VA) outed himself in a Wednesday morning statement by revealing that he dressed up in blackface when he was an “undergraduate in college.” “In 1980, when I was a 19-year-old undergraduate in college, some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song. It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes—and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others—we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup,” Herring said in a statement. Herring has freely added himself to a growing list of embattled Democrats in the state. Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) is trying to save his political career after a now-viral yearbook photo was leaked of him wearing blackface next to a person in a KKK robe. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D-VA) is fending off accusations that he forced a woman to perform oral sex on him at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. “This was a onetime occurrence and I accept full responsibility for my conduct. That conduct clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous…

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Sexual Assault Accusation Against Virginia Lt. Gov. Draws Comparison to Kavanaugh Claims

Admin

by Peter Hasson   The uncorroborated sexual assault allegation against Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a Democrat, has drawn comparisons to the uncorroborated allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Fairfax issued a statement early Monday morning disputing a report by the right-wing blog Big League Politics, which linked Fairfax to an accusation of sexual assault at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Fairfax said at a press conference Monday that he had a consensual encounter with the woman, but denied that he sexually assaulted her. Fairfax is poised to succeed embattled Gov. Ralph Northam if the Virginia Democrat resigns over a racist photo on his yearbook page that showed a man wearing blackface and another wearing a Klu Klux Klan robe. Northam first admitted to being one of the people in the photo, before backtracking and saying he wore blackface on a different occasion, but not in the photo. The Washington Post reported on Monday that it had been aware of the allegation against Fairfax for over a year, but was unable to corroborate it. Fairfax “incorrectly” claimed the Post declined to publish the claim because it found “red flags” regarding the woman’s story, according to the paper. “Fairfax and…

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