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Legislature Delays Minimum Wage Increase Amid Budget Concerns

VCU CNS | April 29, 2020

Topics: coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Elizabeth Guzman, General Assembly 2020, Justin Fairfax, lee carter, Mark Obenshain, minimum wage, Progress Virginia, Ralph Northam, Richard Saslaw

The delay will push the first statewide minimum wage increase back by four months, to May 2021; some lawmakers view this delay as the lesser of two evils.

Labor advocates and Virginia legislators worried the recently passed bill to increase minimum wage might die during the reconvened General Assembly session Wednesday.

Gov. Ralph Northam’s amendment deferred the start date of the original bill by four months in response to the economic blow dealt to the state from the coronavirus pandemic. The recommendation was one of many made to trim the $135 billion, two-year budget passed in the spring. Republican lawmakers wanted to reject the amendment in order to stall the passage of the bill and have the governor amend it further.

During the relocated Senate floor session held at the Science Museum of Virginia, Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, argued that now is a risky time to consider raising the minimum wage given the COVID-19 crisis. He said the legislature should reject the governor’s recommendation and send the bill back for reconsideration.

“Voting ‘no’ on this amendment keeps this issue alive,” Obenshain said. “It sends it back to the governor, and the governor has one more chance to do what’s right, not just for businesses, but for workers.”

Lawmakers who oppose minimum wage increases argued that those working minimum wage jobs in Virginia are young people entering the workforce, not people trying to support families. Other legislators pointed to the essential workers now serving the public from the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, many of whom make minimum wage. 

“Quite frankly I find it hard to believe we’ve got people in here who don’t think somebody working full time in any job should earn at least $19,600 a year,” said Senate majority leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax. “There’s no one in here … that would work for that kind of wage. No one.”

There were impassioned pleas from several House members to accept the recommendation instead of risking the bill being vetoed, though one delegate voiced resentment at having to make the choice. Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, said the COVID-19 crisis has spotlit “one of the most glaring contradictions in our economy” — that workers paid the least are often deemed most essential to society.

“We are saying to these people ‘you are not worth a pay raise come January,’” Carter said. “I’m not gonna fault anyone that votes ‘yes’ on this, for taking the sure thing four months later rather than taking the chance, but if that’s what we’re gonna do … I can’t be any part of it.” Carter did not cast a vote on the amendment.

Del. Elizabeth Guzman. Photo via Facebook

Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Prince William, said that some legislators’ notion that families don’t depend on minimum wage is a myth.

“I’m glad they acknowledge that there are people in Virginia who cannot live off minimum wage,” Guzman said. “Actually, what they do is they get a second job, or a third job in order to make ends meet.” Guzman immigrated to the U.S. from Peru at the age of 18 and worked three jobs to afford a one bedroom apartment.

The House of Delegates voted 49-45 to accept Northam’s amendment to their bill. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax made the tie-breaking Senate vote when its version ended in a 20-20 tie.

The identical bills, introduced by Sen. Saslaw and Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, originally would have raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2021. The governor’s amendment pushes the start to May 1, 2021.

The wage will then increase to $11 in 2022, $12 in 2023 and by another $1.50 in 2025 and 2026. Every subsequent year the bill is to be re-amended to adjust the minimum wage to reflect the consumer price index.

Virginia’s cost of living index is very close to the national average, but it ranks in the top four among states where the minimum wage equals the federal rate of $7.25, according to an analysis of data from the Missouri Economic Research and Development Center.

Anna Scholl, executive director of Progress Virginia, said now is not the time for Virginia to turn its back on low wage workers.

“We have been fighting for a decade to push for people who are working hard to make ends meet, to support their families and to be able to do so with dignity,” Scholl said. “That’s what raising the minimum wage is about.”

Written by Will Gonzalez, Capital News Service. Top Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

State Legislature Tackles Budget Amendments Amid Coronavirus Fallout

VCU CNS | April 27, 2020

Topics: coronavirus, covid 19, dairy farms, Eileen Filler-Corn, General Assembly 2020, Justin Fairfax, marijuana decriminalization, Mark Levine, Milk, minimum wage, soy milk, veto session

The General Assembly held sessions outside last week, considering questions of minimum wage and election dates on the Capitol lawn as quarantine protesters raised a ruckus.

The General Assembly’s reconvened session Wednesday was abnormal as the House dealt with technical difficulties, disruptive protests, and House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, collapsing at the podium. 

Filler-Corn was standing for over three hours before she fell, just as the House was going into a break. Emergency medical services immediately attended to her and she resumed her post after an hour break.

“She looked like she was ready for a break, and then I looked down and suddenly, I just heard a collapse,” said Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria. “By the time I looked up she was down.”

Lawmakers considered holding this session remotely. Levine said Republican delegates were concerned there would be technical difficulties, so legislators opted to meet in person but not in their respective chambers.

“I think it was that they wanted to make it as difficult as possible because the Democrats are in control,” Levine said. “But they’re not going to stop us from going forward. If we have to risk our lives, we will risk our lives, but we shouldn’t have to.”

Delegates sat at tables six feet apart in accordance with proper social distancing.

Delegates congregated under a tent on the lawn of the Virginia State Capitol. The session was punctuated several times by technical difficulties, even delaying the start. The Senate met a few miles away inside the Science Museum of Virginia. 

Legislator sat at tables set up roughly six feet apart to prevent the possible spread of the coronavirus. Many delegates wore face masks, but often removed them when speaking. Some delegates elected to wear gloves, though that was not the majority. Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, wore a mask and sat inside a plexiglass structure that lawmakers jokingly called “the cage.” Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kept his face mask on while at the podium, though Filler-Corn opted not to.

Virginians for Constitutional Rights 2020, formerly Reopen Virginia, gathered outside of the Capitol to protest Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order. Northam’s order was recently extended to June 10. Protesters cited the tanking economy as the reason the state should reopen. The protesters, most in vehicles, honked their horns for nearly three hours as they drove a circuitous route around the Capitol. At times legislators strained to be heard amid the cacophony of horns.

The protest and technical difficulties did not impede the session from conducting business. Of the 100 delegates, 95 were in attendance. All 40 senators attended the Senate session. Some delegates elected not to attend due to COVID-19 related concerns, Levine said.

The House, with 97 items on the agenda, started by accepting Northam’s only vetoed bill: HB 119, a measure to define milk. The bill would only allow products that are “lacteal secretions” from a “hooved mammal” to be labeled as milk, excluding products such as almond, oat and soy “milks.” 

“Not only are [dairy farmers] not making enough money on their milk, they are now dumping it down the drain,” said Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, the bill’s sponsor. “My bill was to send a signal that we sympathize with you and want to offer our support.”

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kept his mask on while speaking at the podium.

Lawmakers grappled at length with issues related to the budget, which must be amended in response to the economic blow of COVID-19. Northam suggested 181 total amendments to the budget bills. The governor called for a freeze on many budget items and said that new circumstances required lawmakers to revisit initiatives such as early childhood education, more affordable college tuition, and pay increases for public employees and teachers. Northam said in his amendments that he may ask lawmakers to reconvene at a later point to vote on these items after they have reforecast state revenues. 

Northam’s recommendations included $55.5 million for “sufficient disaster declaration authorization” and $2.5 million for “deficit authorization for housing.” The House accepted these amendments. 

Lawmakers rejected Northam’s budget amendment to delay existing capital projects “in order to address cash flow and debt capacity concerns resulting from the COVID-19 emergency.”

Northam’s proposal to push the May 5 municipal elections to November was contested. Initially, the House voted along a slim majority not to adopt the amendment. After debate, confusion and technicalities, the amendment passed with two votes. The Senate, which accepted most budget recommendations, did not vote on moving May elections. Levine, who voted to accept the amendment, said this means elections will be held in May, despite public health concerns. He suggested that since the Senate did not vote to move the elections, the senators should man the polls.

Other budget recommendations approved by the House and Senate:

  • Increase nursing facility rates by $20 a day per patient in response to COVID-19.
  • Provide authority for the Director of the Department of Corrections to discharge or reassign certain inmates until July 2021.
  • Expand access to long acting reversible contraceptives.
  • Authorize the governor to appropriate Congressional funding related to COVID-19.

Many of the other legislative amendments were technical and made minor changes to some pivotal legislation passed in the historic session. The session marked the first time since 1994 where Democrats controlled both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office. Two of Northam’s recommendations to the marijuana decriminalization bill, HB 972, were rejected, regarding an extension for the study on the legalization of marijuana and not allowing a trial by jury for the civil penalty of simple possession.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn takes a seat after collapsing at the podium.

The governor’s recommendation to delay the $9.50 minimum wage increase from January until May 2021 was accepted after several impassioned pleas. Other lawmakers voiced concern that the economy can not handle increasing the minimum wage. In the Senate, Fairfax cast a tie-breaking vote to accept the bill’s delay.

A major concern during the reconvened session was that all in attendance take precautions amidst the pandemic. 

“This is definitely unique,” Filler-Corn told the Washington Post. “Health and safety are a top priority.”

Levine wished that the session had been held remotely for safety reasons, but understands that it was necessary to meet, even if in person. 

“Any of us could have [the coronavirus] and the longer we all stay in this environment around each other, the more likely it is that it will be transmitted,” Levine said. 

Each session began at noon and after over eight hours of discussion, voting and interruptions, the House erupted in applause when they came to end. The Senate adjourned shortly after 10 p.m.

“Am I willing to risk my life to continue to serve this commonwealth?” Levine said. “Yes. I got elected for it, I’m going to take that risk, but we shouldn’t have to.”

Written by Emma Gauthier, Capital News Service. Top Photo: The House’s tent set up outside the Capitol; courtesy of Virginia Capitol Police.

$400 Million Lawsuit Claims Justin Fairfax Is Victim Of ‘Political Hit Job’

VCU CNS | September 13, 2019

Topics: CBS Broadcasting, Justin Fairfax, lawsuit, Meredith Watson, sexual assault, Vanessa Tyson

The embattled Lt. Governor is suing CBS for airing interviews with the women who have accused him of sexual assault.

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit Thursday against CBS Corp. and CBS Broadcasting, stating the network aired “intentionally fabricated, false, and politically motivated statements.”

Fairfax, a lawyer, claims the network aired false statements from Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, the two women who allege they were sexually assaulted by Fairfax 15 and 19 years ago, respectively.

The lawsuit criticizes the network for “intentionally” failing to investigate leads “that would have placed the truthfulness of Watson’s and Tyson’s stories in serious doubt.” The lawsuit alleges the allegations were “a political hit job.”

Fairfax said CBS “recklessly disregarded” attempts to verify the women’s claims by not running an independent investigation. He also said the “defamatory statements have been repeatedly and foreseeably republished by media outlets and other third parties throughout the country,” which has damaged his reputation and ability to earn a living. 

CBS said in a statement: “We stand by our reporting and we will vigorously defend this lawsuit.” 

The allegations originally surfaced in February, at a time when — according to the lawsuit — Fairfax “was poised to ascend to the Governorship of Virginia” as calls rose for the resignation of Gov. Ralph Northam following a blackface scandal. All three of the state’s top executive branch Democrats were engulfed in scandal within a week of the discovery of a photograph in Northam’s medical school yearbook showing a man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan garb.

Tyson came forward with sexual assault allegations against Fairfax days after the blackface photo was released. Not long after that, Attorney General Mark Herring — who had called for Northam’s resignation — admitted wearing blackface to a party in the 1980s.

Fairfax accused CBS of acting with actual malice by “hyping” allegations and that airing the interviews was “calculated to maximize ratings for CBS in light of the ongoing scandal involving Governor Northam.”

Fairfax has claimed his innocence since the beginning and said he had consensual intimacy with both women. He has maintained that law enforcement should investigate the accusations, though no charges have been filed against him. After the CBS interviews aired, Fairfax released the results of polygraph examinations that he said exonerate him.

The lawsuit is intended to “restore his reputation and clear his name, ensure the truth prevails, stop the weaponization of false allegations of sexual assault against him, and vindicate his rights under civil law.”

Fairfax stated that the network was attempting to align with #MeToo victims after scandals rippled up to CBS CEO Les Moonves, who was fired over sexual misconduct allegations. “CBS This Morning” co-anchor Charlie Rose was fired after eight women made sexual harassment allegations. “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager left the network also in the face of sexual misconduct allegations. 

Fairfax’s legal team concluded that “the network sought to visibly align itself on the side of perceived victims to improve its public image.” 

Fairfax takes aim at others in the lawsuit, including Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney. The lawsuit says Stoney views Fairfax as a “political rival who has been positioned to delay Stoney’s desired run for Governor.”

Tyson’s allegations went viral on media outlets on Feb.4. The lawsuit claims a message was originally shared by Adria Scharf, who is married to Thad Williamson, Stoney’s former adviser. Williamson, according to the lawsuit, has been friends with Tyson since college. 

“Stoney, Williamson, and Scharf intended to promote a supposedly damaging, uncorroborated accusation against Fairfax involving Tyson in an attempt to harm Fairfax personally and professionally and to derail his political future,” the lawsuit claims.

In February, a spokesman for Stoney denied the mayor is involved, saying the insinuation was “100 percent not true.”

In addition to demanding at least $400 million in compensation and a jury trial, the lawsuit also asks for an injunction that would stop the network from “disseminating, distributing, or publishing any footage or statements that are judicially determined to be defamatory.”

Written By McKenzie Lambert, Capital News Service. Photos via CNS

Our Doors Are Open and Our Lights Are On: VA Politicians Boycott Trump at the Jamestown Commemoration

John Donegan | August 2, 2019

Topics: american evolution, Boycott, danica roem, deport hate, governor ralph northam, house of burgesses, ibraheem samirah, immigration, jamestown commemoration, Justin Fairfax, kathy spangler, politics, Ralph Northam, refugees, thomas norment, trump, virginia black caucus, Virginia Democrats

From widespread boycotts to protests of Trump’s speech, this year’s Jamestown Commemoration didn’t feel like much of a celebration.

The year is 1907. President Theodore Roosevelt, in his second term, visits Norfolk, where celebrations for the 300th Term-Centennial Anniversary of colonial America are underway. 

His arrival is an extravagant spectacle; the presidential yacht swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, docking alongside an international fleet of 47 battleships, and was received in salutation by cannon fire. 

“At last the smoke cleared away, and the President was perceived — on the deck of the Mayflower — with his high hat in hand and his frock coat flapping in the breeze,” the Philadelphia Inquirer said of the event, at the time called the Jamestown Exposition. 

Roosevelt spoke before a sea of bowler caps; 40,000 attended to hear his address. Speeches were also made by Booker T. Washington and Mark Twain. 

An estimated 1.2 million turned out for the week-long 1907 exposition, yet most already knew the basic story of Jamestown. They came for festivities likened to the World’s Fair, and enjoyed promises of progress. 

The site spread like the state fair across 340 acres of ground and water, while carnival rides and games filled the grounds. The “War Path” amusement park, a Wild West show and a re-creation of the San Francisco earthquake, came included with the general admission price of 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. 

Fifty years after the Jamestown Expedition, construction finished on Colonial Parkway — and Queen Elizabeth II delivered a personal address to the crowds. Fifty years after that, in 2007, after the attacks and subsequent questioning of public safety, George W. Bush spoke before an outdoor commemoration of 9/11. Bush gave a cheeky address, and later directed the Virginia Symphony Orchestra before an outdoor crowd.

That was 12 years ago. And this Tuesday, President Donald Trump travelled here to Jamestown to give his keynote speech celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the first legislative body within what would become the United States of America, Virginia’s House of Burgesses. 

But unlike when Roosevelt arrived 112 years ago, there were no rides, no attractions, no special fair foods, no celebration. And unlike the queen’s address in 1957, or Bush’s conducting in 2007, there was no sense of festivity, no big shows, and no attendance by the Royal Family. 

The event, instead, was private. Bulletin boards informed of delays in tours until the afternoon.  Much of Colonial Parkway was closed off. Layers upon layers of barricades besieged the Jamestown settlement. Signs and police checkpoints instructed anyone uninvited to steer clear. 

Photo by Branden Wilson

The event saw more security than attendees, and a tension in the air that, even sitting next to an industrial sized A/C vent, made it hard to breathe. 

Inside the inner layer, squad cars and local party members filled the parking deck. Wild West shows and reenactors were replaced by body scanners and checkpoints. 

Snipers nested on the roofs that overlooked the breakfast buffet. Older individuals filed into the air-conditioned tent, clad in prim summer suits and red hats to cover balding scalps and spun-up hair. 

Indeed, the only “War Path” of the day was for anyone who dared contend with the narrative of the planned proceedings. 

The event was organized by American Evolution, a sub-company of Dominion Power. When asked for specifics on who was chosen to be invited and who funded the event, AE failed to comment — though when speaking to guests and purveying the grounds, it was clear most of the invitees were elected officials, members of law enforcement, or interested stakeholders. 

Technically, the event was not meant to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the English’s first arrival to America in 1607 — that was what Bush was celebrating 12 years ago. Instead, this event honored the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1619. Yet many speakers, from erudite historians to Trump himself, spoke at great length of the initial arrival in Jamestown and the creation of the United States’ first legislative body as one and the same. 

Most of the day consisted of speeches by Virginia officials. Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment, R-James City, led the opening discussion, about learning from the mistakes of the past — which would become a theme for the day’s speeches. 

“Between the James and York rivers, you will find the birthplace of our nation whose legacy can still be felt here, and not just because you may bump into someone at the grocery in a tri-corner hat or a hoopskirt,” Norment said. “We honor history here, and we must preserve our past, but we also have a duty to learn from it.” 

While 1619 brought major changes pertinent to America’s emerging representative democracy, it also brought slavery to the new world. Historically, Jamestown brought both success and failure, both progress and atrocity. Speakers attempted to observe this duality of our nation’s past, and without stirring the pro-Trump crowd, made tongue-in-cheek allusions to similar mistakes we make today. 

“Here in Virginia, we try to live up to those American ideals,” Governor Ralph Northam said. “We know our diversity is our strength, and we welcome immigrants, refugees, and all those who, like those who stood on this spot 400 years ago, come to Virginia in search of a better life.”

Our doors are open and our lights are on, no matter who you love, no matter who you are, or no matter where you come from — you are welcome in Virginia. And there is no ideal more American than that. 

“Extremism, racism, nativism, xenophobia and isolationism driven by a fear of the unknown tend to spike in periods of stress… a period like our own,” said Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian. “Yet history teaches us that we’ve always grown stronger the more widely we’ve opened our arms, and the more generously we’ve interpreted the most important sentence ever rendered in English: Thomas Jefferson’s assertion that all men are created equal.” 

Meacham, most notably the author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, marked the history of Jamestown as the history of America. 

“Jamestown is a mirror of who we were and who we are,” he said. “Dreamers and doers came here and they built, and we stand in the light of their achievement.” 

Current lawmakers and local supervisors of the original boroughs were in attendance, but both the Virginia Black Caucus and state Democratic leaders skipped the commemoration organized by American Evolution. Their absence was intentional, a boycott of Trump’s attendance and a protest of his recent Twitter attacks on four congresswomen. The caucus instead held their own commemoration in Richmond, which focused on the “400-year evolution of African-Americans.” 

“We will not be attending any part of the commemorative session where Donald Trump is in attendance,” said a statement by the leadership of the Virginia House and Senate Democratic Caucuses. “The current President does not represent the values that we would celebrate at the 400th anniversary of the oldest democratic body in the western world.” 

Photo by Branden Wilson

However, some Democrats attended as a stance for inclusion. 

“I represent everyone by being here today, and in particular, I’m hoping we’re able to send a different message about the value of inclusivity, equality, equity and diversity here in the Commonwealth,” Del. Danica Roem (D – Prince William) said, according to NBC 12. 

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairax, who also attended, was leery of the President’s speech. 

“I listened to the words, but they rang hollow, and were very empty because they are not reflective of the actions of this administration,” Fairfax said, according to NBC12. 

Many of the state’s Democratic political leaders did not attend the event for similar reasons. A spokesperson for the Virginia House Democratic caucus said it was up to individual lawmakers to decide if they wanted to attend, but leadership would not be there. 

“My reaction is that, certainly, this is our democracy in action, and we all have a right to make our position and make our statement,” said Kathy Spangler, the Executive Director of American Evolution, according to WTKR News. 

By the time Trump came on to speak, the day’s proceedings were almost over. 

“As we can see today on this great anniversary, it would not be the last time that God looked out for Virginia,” Trump said. “Together, the settlers forged what would become the timeless traits of the American character. They worked hard, they had courage and abundance, and a wealth of self-reliance. They strived mightily to turn a profit, they experimented with producing silk, corn, tobacco, and the very first Virginia wines.” 

“For in America, no challenge is too great. No journey is too tough. No task is too large. No dream is beyond our reach. When we set our sights on the summit, nothing can stand in our way. America always gets the job done. America always wins.” 

I just disrupted the @realDonaldTrump speech in Jamestown because nobody’s racism and bigotry should be excused for the sake of being polite. The man is unfit for office and unfit to partake in a celebration of democracy, representation, and our nation’s history of immigrants. pic.twitter.com/0okD7eRVer

— Delegate Ibraheem Samirah (@IbraheemSamirah) July 30, 2019

Trump’s ending remarks were interrupted when Del. Ibraheem Samirah (D – Herndon) held a sign reading “Deport Hate,” “Go Back To Your Corrupted Home,” and “Reunite My Family.” 

“Virginia is our home! You can’t send me back!” Samirah shouted. Trump fell silent and stuck his nose towards the ceiling as the crowd began to shout and boo. Police escorted Samirah out. Some of the more stirred in the crowd began to chant “Trump, Trump, Trump.” 

In order to leave, we required an escort to guide us out of the premises. While this may seem fairly common for a political event today, this is a stark difference from the way we celebrated democracy in both recent and long time past. 

In those moments, I began to wonder — would Roosevelt, Bush, or members of the original House of Burgesses do the same? In the face of grievances, is it normal to ignore, look away, and simply wait for security to handle it for them? 

We walked out on the speech early, cameras in hand, trying to get some photos of Del. Samirah, who was brought outside for questioning. After some walking, I looked up to my right and noticed two of the snipers posted on the wall, binoculars glued to their eyes, watching us. And for a moment, I didn’t know whether to feel afraid or proud. I wondered if 112 years ago, if they had snipers on the roof, or protesters on the lawn. 

Either way, what a day to be an American. 

Fairfax Accusers Grant Interviews To CBS News

John Donegan | April 2, 2019

Topics: Allegations, CBS This Morning, Justin Fairfax, Meredith Watson, sexual assault, state government, Vanessa Tyson

“In my ideal world, I’d want him to resign,” said Vanessa Tyson, one of two women to accuse Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax of sexual assault.

Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, the two women who accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault earlier this year, granted interviews to CBS News this week. Those interviews aired Monday and Tuesday on CBS This Morning.

“In my ideal world, I’d want him to resign,” Tyson told “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King. Tyson alleges she and Fairfax met in 2004, while both working for the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Tyson, who has accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in a Boston hotel room, told CBS that what began as consensual “quickly turned into sexual assault.”

“I cannot believe, given my obvious distress, that Mr. Fairfax thought this forced sexual act was consensual. To be very clear, I did not want to engage in oral sex with Mr. Fairfax and I never gave any form of consent,” Tyson said in a statement back in February.

The CBS interview with Tyson, her first TV interview since the allegations were made public, aired Monday on “CBS This Morning.” “I was so ashamed. I was so humiliated,” Tyson told CBS in the interview. She later noted that she had volunteered at a rape crisis center at the time.

Tyson’s allegation against Fairfax became public a few days after a racist yearbook photo linked to Gov. Ralph Northam saw calls for the governor to resign, with Fairfax to be his replacement.

Tyson, an associate professor of political science at Scripps College in Claremont, California, cited her political science students and calls for Fairfax to take the governorship as reasons for coming forward.

“I don’t want this to ever, ever, ever happen to them,” Tyson said.

Meredith Watson came forward days after Tyson, accusing Fairfax of raping her while the two were students at Duke University in 2000. Watson told King that she felt Fairfax had assaulted her due to prior knowledge that she’d been assaulted before.

“He knew that the year prior that I had been raped by someone and that nothing was done about it,” Watson told King. “And he was a very good friend to me. Which is why I never would’ve expected anything like this from him.”

Watson told King she had confronted Fairfax later about the alleged assault. She had left a campus party when she saw Fairfax arriving, but she said Fairfax ran after her, calling her to talk to him.

“I finally stopped and I turned around. And all I said to him was, ‘Why? Why would you do that to me?'” said Watson. “And he said, ‘I knew because of what happened to you last year that if I got you in the right situation, you would be too afraid to say or do anything about it.'”

Watson proceeded to elaborate in great detail about the alleged assault, saying that it would have been impossible for Fairfax to think it was consensual.

If you have to hold someone down, it’s not consensual,” she told King.

In response to the allegations, Fairfax issued a news release stating he had hired a former FBI polygraph expert, former FBI Jeremiah Hanafin, to administer a polygraph to him, and that polygraph showed that Fairfax was being truthful.

“Mr. Hanafin is a retired FBI polygraph expert who was previously chosen by Dr. Vanessa Tyson’s attorney, Ms. Debra Katz, to perform a polygraph examination of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford relating to Dr. Ford’s allegations against then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh,” the news release said.

Fairfax said in a February speech that “the truth is on my side” and cautioned against “political lynchings without any due process.”

“And we talk about hundreds, at least 100 terror lynchings that have happened in the Commonwealth of Virginia, under those very same auspices,” Fairfax said. “And yet we stand here in a rush to judgment, with nothing but accusations and no facts, and we decide that we are willing to do the same thing.”

Barry Pollack, an attorney for Fairfax, said in the same news release that a criminal investigation, which Fairfax has called for, would exonerate the Lieutenant Governor.

“All serious allegations deserve to be taken seriously, but not all allegations are true,” Pollack said in the statement. “The public has a right to know if serious allegations made against the Lt. Governor are true, but the public also has a right to know if they are false.”

Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax (via Facebook)

Tyson, in response, told King that rather than an investigation, she preferred a public hearing before the Virginia General Assembly, in which she, Watson, and Fairfax would be before a committee and under oath. “Investigations often allow people in power to sweep things under the rug,” she told CBS news.

Republicans in the House of Delegates have supported a plan to hold public hearings on the Fairfax allegations this year, but have not set a date, CBS reports.

Virginia Democrats, including Senator Tim Kaine and former Governor Terry McAuliffe, have supported Fairfax’s accusers and called for his resignation.

“The allegations against Justin Fairfax are serious and credible,” McAuliffe wrote on Twitter. “It is clear to me that he can no longer effectively serve the people of Virginia as Lieutenant Governor. I call for his immediate resignation.”

Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson images via screencap/CBS News

Most Virginians Don’t Want Officials to Resign, Poll Finds

VCU CNS | February 22, 2019

Topics: approval ratings, Justin Fairfax, Mark Herring, polls, Ralph Northam, resignation

Some want Northam, Fairfax, and Herring to resign. Some want them to stay in office. And almost half of Virginians polled just weren’t sure.

Virginians have low approval ratings of Gov. Ralph Northam and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, but most people say no one should resign or be impeached, according to a recent poll by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. It found that of the state’s three top officials, Attorney General Mark Herring is the best-positioned to remain in office.

Should Virginia’s Top Officials Resign?
Infogram

Over the past month, the three leaders, all Democrats, have been under scrutiny after several scandals, and some politicians and groups have called for their resignations.

  • Two women have accused Fairfax of sexual assault — allegations he has denied.
  • Northam has been in hot water after the discovery of a photograph in his medical school yearbook showing a man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan garb. Northam initially apologized for the photograph and then denied he was in the picture. He later admitted to putting “a little bit of” shoe polish on his face to imitate Michael Jackson in a 1984 dance competition.
  • After calling for Northam’s resignation, Attorney General Mark Herring apologized for wearing blackface when he was 19 years old to imitate a rapper.

With that backdrop, U.Va.’s Center for Politics asked a representative sample of Virginia adults about their opinions of Northam, Fairfax and Herring.

The poll found that of the three leaders, more people believe Fairfax should quit. Thirty-five percent believe Fairfax should resign, and 28 percent favored impeachment.

Only 17 percent of Virginians approve of the governor’s job performance. However, only 31 percent of respondents say he should resign, and 21 percent believe he should be impeached.

According to the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, there was a strong racial divide over whether Fairfax should resign. Thirty-nine percent of white respondents said they favored his resignation, compared with only 8 percent of black respondents.

Of the three officials, Herring had the fewest number of people suggesting he resign (19 percent) or be impeached (14 percent).

The poll involved interviewing 636 adults from Feb. 15-19. It had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

By Emily Holter, Capital News Service. Images via CNS

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