{"id":123468,"date":"2019-06-01T18:55:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T22:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=123468"},"modified":"2019-06-01T18:56:23","modified_gmt":"2019-06-01T22:56:23","slug":"why-were-the-top-three-elected-officials-in-virginia-really-under-investigation-at-the-same-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=123468","title":{"rendered":"Why were the top three elected officials in Virginia really under investigation at the same time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crisis escalates in Virginia; top 3 Democrats under fire<\/h1>\n

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FILE – In this Jan. 12, 2018 file photo, Virginia Gov.-elect, Lt. Gov Ralph Northam, center, walks down the reviewing stand with Lt. Gov-elect, Justin Fairfax, right, and Attorney General Mark Herring at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo\/Steve Helber, File)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

by ALAN SUDERMAN, The Associated Press<\/p>\n

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) \u2014 The political crisis in Virginia spun out of control Wednesday when the state’s attorney general confessed to putting on blackface in the 1980s and a woman went public with detailed allegations of sexual assault against the lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

With Gov. Ralph Northam’s career already\u00a0hanging by a thread over a racist photo<\/a>\u00a0in his 1984 medical school yearbook, the day’s developments threatened to take down all three of Virginia’s top elected officials, all of them Democrats.<\/p>\n

The twin blows began with Attorney General Mark Herring issuing a statement admitting he\u00a0wore brown makeup and a wig in 1980 to look like a rapper<\/a>\u00a0during a party when he was a 19-year-old student at the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n

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FILE – In this Oct. 24, 2018 file photo, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announces a new Clergy Abuse Hotline his office is launching as he addressed a press conference at his office in Richmond, Va. (Bob Brown\/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP, File)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Herring \u2014 who has been among those calling on Northam to resign \u2014 said that he was\u00a0“deeply, deeply sorry” about the costume\u00a0<\/a>and that the days ahead “will make it clear whether I can or should continue to serve.”<\/p>\n

Then, within hours, Vanessa Tyson, the California woman whose sexual assault allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax surfaced earlier this week, put out\u00a0a detailed statement\u00a0<\/a>saying Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him in a hotel room in 2004 during the Democratic National Convention in Boston.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press typically does not identify those who say they were sexually assaulted, but Tyson issued the statement in her name.<\/p>\n

Tyson, a 42-year-old political scientist who is on a fellowship at Stanford University and specializes in the political discourse of sexual assault, said, “I have no political motive. I am a proud Democrat.”<\/p>\n

“Mr. Fairfax has tried to brand me as a liar to a national audience, in service to his political ambitions, and has threatened litigation,” she said. “Given his false assertions, I’m compelled to make clear what happened.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fairfax \u2014 who is in line to become governor if Northam resigns \u2014 has repeatedly denied her allegations, saying that the encounter was consensual and that he is the victim of a strategically timed political smear.<\/p>\n

“At no time did she express to me any discomfort or concern about our interactions, neither during that encounter, nor during the months following it, when she stayed in touch with me, nor the past 15 years,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, left, listens to assistant Senate Crerk, Tara Perkinson, as he prepares to preside over the Senate at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. (AP Photo\/Steve Helber)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tyson said she suffered “deep humiliation and shame” and stayed quiet about the allegations as she pursued her career, but by late 2017, as the #MeToo movement took shape and after she saw a news article about Fairfax’s campaign, she took her story to The Washington Post, which decided months later not to publish a story.<\/p>\n

The string of scandals that began when the yearbook picture came to light last Friday could have a domino effect on Virginia state government: If Northam and Fairfax fall, Herring would be next in line to become governor. After Herring comes House Speaker Kirk Cox, a conservative Republican.<\/p>\n

Democrats have expressed fear that the uproar over the governor could jeopardize their chances of taking control of the GOP-dominated Virginia legislature this year. The party made\u00a0big gains in 2017<\/a>, in part because of a backlash against President Donald Trump, and has moved to within striking distance of a majority in both houses.<\/p>\n

At the Capitol, lawmakers were dumbstruck over the day’s developments, with Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola saying, “I have to take a breath and think about this. This is moving way too quickly.” GOP House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert said it would be “reckless” to comment. “There’s just too much flying around,” he said.<\/p>\n

The chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, Del. Lamont Bagby, said, “We’ve got a lot to digest.”<\/p>\n

Herring, 57, went public after rumors of a blackface photo of him began circulating at the Capitol. But in his statement, he said nothing about the existence of a photo.<\/p>\n

The attorney general made a name for himself nationally by playing a central role in bringing gay marriage to Virginia, and he had been planning to run for governor in 2021. If he resigns, the legislature gets to pick his replacement.<\/p>\n

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FILE – In this Oct. 6, 2003 file photo, Kurtis Walker, known by his rap name Kurtis Blow, poses in the Harlem neighborhood in the Manhattan borough of New York. (AP Photo\/Jim Cooper, File)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In his statement, Herring said he and two friends dressed up to look like rappers they listened to, including Kurtis Blow, admitting: “It sounds ridiculous even now writing it.”<\/p>\n

“That conduct clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behavior could inflict on others,” he said. But he also said: “This conduct is in no way reflective of the man I have become in the nearly 40 years since.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Please see my statement below. pic.twitter.com\/FBDcgxHOq9<\/a><\/p>\n

— Mark Herring (@MarkHerringVA) February 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n