Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax said 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.”
An FBI spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the investigation. Someone who talked with the FBI but requested to stay unnamed told The Virginia Star, “It was a lot about money in Richmond City Hall. Any possibility of money going to the women was coming up. Money related things were coming up.”
On Monday, The Intercept first reported on the FBI investigation, citing five sources who the FBI interviewed.
In February 2019, then-Governor Ralph Northam was embroiled in a blackface scandal, and seemed about to be ousted by frustrated Democrats, which would have elevated Fairfax to the governor’s seat. But instead two allegations of sexual assault against Fairfax surfaced, leading to calls for Fairfax to resign. Although Fairfax ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2021, he lost to former Governor Terry McAuliffe, who was mulling a presidential run in early 2019.
In their reporting, The Intercept summarizes close ties between Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and McAuliffe, and the potential gubernatorial ambitions of both, as well as Stoney’s links to the Fairfax accusers.
“Adria Scharf — the wife of Thad Williamson, a former top adviser to Stoney and a longtime associate of Vanessa Tyson — reached out to Tyson after she made her allegation. ‘Friend,’ she wrote on Facebook messenger to Tyson, ‘northam may be forced to resign tomorrow. Thad and I think your story should get to the local press TODAY, rather than later. Do you want me to share screen shot and your contact info (tell me what to share) with a few local respected journalists.…or alternatively give you their info? Hugs. You are pure truth love and courage,'” The Intercept reported.
“The Mayor has not been contacted by the FBI, nor has anyone on his team. We have no reason to believe he or our team are under investigation in any way,” Stoney spokesman Kevin Zeithaml told The Star in a statement. “Mayor Stoney had never heard of the sexual assault allegations against Justin Fairfax until the story broke in the news in February 2019. As the Mayor has said repeatedly over the past three years, there is absolutely no truth whatsoever to this ridiculous accusation against him.”
McAuliffe spokesperson Jake Rubenstein said, “The Governor has no knowledge of anything to do with this matter. Period.”
The Intercept highlighted McAuliffe’s February 8, 2019 tweet calling for Fairfax to resign the same afternoon as the second accuser’s claims were published.
“[…] the news was circulating on social media after 4:30 p.m., with Fairfax’s spokesperson getting her first call at 4:39 p.m. At 5:00, her phone blew up as a statement went out from Watson’s attorney. McAuliffe’s response came out quicker than even Fairfax’s, calling for Fairfax’s immediate resignation at 5:03,” The Intercept reported.
Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) has been a vocal critic of the allegations and a defender of Fairfax, and interviewed Fairfax’s former spokesperson Lauren Burke on his radio show on Tuesday.
“It’s almost impossible to believe that Stoney did not know what his chief aide’s wife was doing,” Morrissey told The Star.
In 2021, Fairfax lost a defamation lawsuit against CBS, which aired the accusations. Morrissey suggested that there could be criminal charges coming out of the FBI.
“What the FBI as I understand it, is going to be looking into is whether there was any payment of money. They’re not concerned about the political hardball and the throwing of sharp elbows. They want to know was there any money transferred to any individual for his or her testimony,” Morrissey said.
Despite Fairfax’s requests for investigations, there was never any criminal investigation into the allegations against him, and his accusers never took the stand.
“If it is shown that money was paid by Stoney or someone on his behalf to give a narrative that is false, that is a crime,” Morrissey said.
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Justin Fairfax” by Justin Fairfax. Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Skip Plitt – C’ville Photography. CC BY-SA 3.0.
