Second woman accuses Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Jenna Portnoy and Gregory S. Schneider February 8 at 4:25 PM

A woman said Friday she was raped by Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) in a “premeditated and aggressive” assault in 2000, while they both were undergraduate students at Duke University.

Through her attorney, Meredith Watson said she shared her account of sexual assault immediately after it happened with several classmates, who have provided statements. Her lawyer also said she shared her account with friends in a string of emails and Facebook messages.

Watson was friends with Fairfax at Duke but they never dated or had any romantic relationship, her lawyer said.

“At this time, Ms. Watson is reluctantly coming forward out of a strong sense of civic duty and her belief that those seeking or serving in public office should be of the highest character,” said her attorney, Nancy Erika Smith in a statement Friday. “She has no interest in becoming a media personality or reliving the trauma that has greatly affected her life. Similarly, she is not seeking any financial damages.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/second-woman-accuses-va-lt-gov-justin-fairfax-of-sexual-assault/2019/02/08/19e6bb6c-2bdf-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html

[femmedem]

1. I was just about to post this.

Awful news.

[pnwmom]

2. And Ms. Watson has corroborating witnesses. Well then. He's done. n/t

[PeeJ52]

3. Buh bye...

Nuff said...

[bronxiteforever]

4. This is horrendous. He needs to resign ASAP.

Looks like plenty of evidence and immediate complaint to friends of victim.

[bitterross]

59. NO, he does not need to resign ASAP. There does need to be an investigation ASAP.

He does not need to resign immediately. He has not been found guilty of anything yet. We have to stop holding our Democratic leaders to an impossibly high standard. Your standard for him seems to be that he not be accused of anything. That's not a reasonable standard - especially considering there are actual GOP rat-fucking operations. Whether this is one or not remains to be determined.

A thorough investigation needs to take place and appropriate actions AFTER that. NOT BEFORE.

This is different from Kavanaugh in many ways. Fairfax is not about to be voted on for a lifetime position. He's already in a temporary position. So there is no need to rush in order to stop his appointment to office.

That's what we asked for with Kavanugh. Just delay the process long enough to have a fair investigation. There is no reason not to do the same for Fairfax. What powers does the Lt. Gov have anyway? Is there really any power there that he needs to be prevented from exercising until an investigation is done? Probably not.

How is it going to harm the state anymore than it has already to allow him to stay in office during an investigation? Not much. How is it going to harm the state and Fairfax if he's found innocent? A lot.

[mcar]

5. He needs to resign NOW!

[bitterross]

60. Why? Solely because he's been Accused? Is that the standard now?

Yes, there needs to be a thorough investigation. Until then there are two accusers and an accused.

We generally like to have an investigation and weighing of the facts before we convict people. Why we Democrats seem to want to skip that part in order to look like we're the party of higher morals and standards befuddles me.

How about we act like the party of fair and equitable treatment for a change?

[dalton99a]

6. What Facebook messages in 2000?

Facebook was founded in February 2004. Myspace was founded in August 2003.

[Honeycombe8]

31. The article doesn't say "Facebook."

So I don't know if the OP made an error, or if the article was corrected.

She says she shared her "account" with friends. She meant her account of the incident. Could be someone thought that meant Facebook account.

[Cetacea]

33. She shared with friends after Facebook was created

I'm guessing that's what that passage meant.

[iluvtennis]

7. My question is where were these women when he ran for Lt Governor. Don't get me wrong, they

need to be heard and full investigation done, but just want to know why these accusations weren't levied when he first ran for Lt Gov.

BTW, with the 3 Dem leaders -- Gov, Lt Gov, and AG -- under scrutiny for racism and sexual assault, the 4th person in line for succession to the Governorship is a Republican. Having a republican as governor means that the redistricting that is happening in 2020 will be under control of the repugs.

[iluvtennis]

11. Yes, I can read. Did you read my post...don't think so.

[Cetacea]

12. So she picks a time for maximum exposure?

I'm withholding judgment until I learn more.

[crazytown]

18. She steps forward

when she won’t be the only one in the spotlight.

[iluvtennis]

19. Exactly. There needs to be a full investigation. I take the two women and the LG at their word.

[dalton99a]

10. +1. The guy has been a public figure for a long time.

[appalachiablue]

28. SEE Paragraph 3. *Reporters have info. on #3, 4, 5 potential rape cases...

:large

[vdogg]

46. Nothing in Paragraph 3 says that. Nothing.

Nothing in that entire letter indicates the possibility of 3, 4, or 5 victims. Where are you even getting this from? Or am I responding to a troll?

[appalachiablue]

49. It's linked to this Tweet, which I couldn't C & P earlier.

Donor to VA Dems., and Northam & Fairfax campaigns. Also relative of Gov. of VA (D). Careful, Not a troll.

Ben Tribbett, https://bluevirginia.us/tag/773
------------------------------------------------------

Ben Tribbett? @notlarrysabato

Follow Follow @notlarrysabato

More

And reporters are now telling me they have heard about women #3, #4 and #5. Victims should never be outed before they are ready to come forward- but we are way overdue for a resignation.

2:10 PM - 8 Feb 2019

[progressoid]

13. Same thing was asked of Cosby, Weinstein, et. al. accusers.

Where were they?

Often it just takes one brave soul to come forward to open the door for others come forward.

[TexasBushwhacker]

50. Yup. When I read the first accusation against Fairfax

all I could think was if it was true, there would be others. So here we go ...

[Honeycombe8]

32. The AG is under investigation, too? I can't keep up with all of this. OMG. VA could be lost.

VA has a problem.

[Stargazer09]

51. The timing bothers me

Where were all of these accusations before the election?

After the Franken debacle, I don’t trust this situation.

I’m not saying the accusations aren’t legitimate, but I am questioning why they are popping up now.

[iluvtennis]

64. +++ agree.

[Wabbajack_]

67. Where was Dr. Ford

When Kavanaugh was appointed to the appellate court? Who can say. Maybe they didn't follow politics so closely and didn't know he was LT Gov till now.

I wouldn't worry about losing the Governorship. Northam doesn't appear to be resigning and I doubt the AG is going to. The entire leg is up for election in Nov though and if Fairfax resigns there will be special election for his office.

[crazytown]

8. Appalling news.

Fairfax needs to be replaced yesterday.

[David__77]

14. I neither believe nor disbelieve her.

I also don't see this as strengthening or weakening the claim of the other person who made the accusation against Fairfax, from my perspective.

[Mr.Bill]

15. That cuts it for me.

He should be immediately appointed to the Supreme Court.

[crazytown]

16. ROFL

Gallows humour.

[Honeycombe8]

35. No, No, Mr. Bill...no no no....

(she says in a high pitched voice)

I still remember those Mr. Bill skits. So silly, but so funny. (If that's what your name refers to.)

Anyway...good joke about the S.Ct.

[Yosemito]

17. She didn't complain to Duke or police

Did she feel like Fairfax should be free to attack more women? I don't buy it.
Fairfax should not resign.

[MichMary]

22. Oh, please

I'm sure you know why women don't report rapes.

[femmedem]

23. There are lots of reasons women don't go to the police. I did go to the police and it was awful.

Without going into detail, for years my anger was sharper at the police than at the stranger who raped me.

When women go to the police, they get grilled in public on everything from "were you drinking?" to their sexual histories to "what were you wearing?" to "did you scream or try to fight him off?" (Sometimes women are too afraid to scream or fight.) And if there are no witnesses, as is usually the case, it's all for naught because it's so difficult to prove rape beyond a shadow of a doubt, even with DNA evidence.

Because I requested to listen to the tape of my grand jury hearing to refresh my memory before the trial, which was scheduled for much later--might have been a year later?--I got to hear a detective say in court that he didn't believe me. He also falsely testified that I was walking home at 5:00 a.m., not 11:00 pm. Also the police made inappropriate jokes about the rapist's body in my presence.

So the fact that she didn't go to the police shouldn't keep anyone from believing her. In fact, the rape crisis councilor that I called right away told me I should think long and hard before filing a police report because it would likely be a terrible experience. (This was in the early 1980's; I hope it is better now.)

[mcar]

63. I'm so sorry for what you went through

[femmedem]

68. Thanks, mcar.

I'm mostly fine now; very occasional flareups of PTSD. But I had to speak up because I was shocked by how many here are questioning why a sexual assault victim wouldn't go to the police.

[mcar]

69. Happens every time, doesn't it?

[ehrnst]

71. That is horrific.

I am so sorry that was your experience, and I'm afraid that it's far more common than not.

[Honeycombe8]

36. I've been raped. I didn't report it. You may not understand that...until it's you.

It's hard to prove. People blame the victim. Etc., etc. I'm sure you've heard the reasons.

[moonscape]

39. It's complicated. A close, dear friend was

raped and at the time I wanted her to go to the police for the reason you expressed. We had long conversations about it. I've never been raped so it was hard for me to grasp, but over the course of our conversations I came to understand her reasons - for her.

This is hardly uncommon.

[Honeycombe8]

20. And...here we go. Where's the bandwagon? Is the old Franken bandwagon free?

Except Franken wasn't accused of anything like the two accustations against Fairfax. One of Franken's accusers accused him of agreeing to do a selfie with her, then when he did, he smiled at the camera and put his hand on her waist, and grabbed a bit of flesh. I kid you not. That was one of the accusations that Franken's co-senators booted him out of the Senate for.

So here we have two very serious allegations. Much more serious than giving a selfie while putting his hand around someone's waist.

Is Fairfax going to survive this?

[deurbano]

37. With Franken, it seemed like the complaint was he was fat-shaming her...

unless he has a cellulite fetish or something. I never understood why his request for an investigation wasn't better received.

But yes, this is very different.

[LisaL]

40. If you ask me, more like she felt ashamed because she gained some weight.

[deurbano]

45. That's what I thought, plus she seems a bit idiosyncratic in her personal "boundaries."

We're all entitled to establish our own comfort zones, but it seems unfair to label something as sexual harassment that doesn't have a sexual component for the vast majority of people. It would be pretty hard for someone quickly complying with a selfie request to realize they were violating this personal boundary.

[Honeycombe8]

41. No. She said she felt that he was harassing her...she was "uncomfortable" with the touching.

Fat-shaming isn't harassment. She revealed her incident in the context of the "me, too" movement.

Franken was just being Franken...like Biden. Very friendly, hugs & kisses, hands around waists...but I bet they don't do that any more.

I would never publicly criticize someone for being nice enough to give me the selfie I asked for, but then he put his hand around my waist & grabbed a bit. That's ridiculous.

[deurbano]

47. I don't actually think he was fat shaming her. I meant that if he was deliberately trying to squeeze

the excess around her waist, that would be fat shaming, not sexual harassment... unless he has a cellulite fetish. (I don't actually believe he has a cellulite fetish, either.)

[Apollyonus]

21. Justin should resign now. n/t

[madville]

24. He's done

He needs to go and a replacement appointed while Northam is still Governor. I don't think Northam is going anywhere though.

[Honeycombe8]

42. Northam won't be keen to appoint a replacement.

That would mean that HE, too, should be replaced. It's a predicament.

But in my view, it's for VA to handle. They were elected by Virginia voters. It's their decision. If the Dem Party doesn't want them associated with the party, they can leave the party and remain in their posts.

What a mess.

[riversedge]

25. #METOO

[bluestarone]

26. Let the investigation proceed

What is wrong with letting the investigation proceed BEFORE we all decide?

[Honeycombe8]

29. That's not the way that things are done, now.

Were you around during the Franken ouster? Or when the Northam pic was exposed?

No questions asked. Bandwagon fills up with people demanding the accused resign immediately, or else.

[bluestarone]

30. EXACTLY! That's why

my comment was made!

[Honeycombe8]

38. I forgot to put "sarcasm" notation to my post.

I meant it sarcastically, because of course people shouldn't be judged guilty at first blush.

But...now that it's been done not once, but at least twice...people would wonder why this time, why this person, who gets different treatment. When in fact, his are the most serious allegations of all.

The position I've taken about Northam, and now about Fairfax, is that this is a state matter. This is for Virginia to handle. Virginia voters elected Northam and Fairfax. They have a right to keep them, if they want, or boot them out. It's a state matter. Since when do elected officials go around trying to oust state-elected officials in other states? That's really unusual.

But apparently Kathryn Harris, Brown, and others disagreed. They immediately called for Northam to resign. So....there you go. (They also called for Franken to resign...which in the Senate, meant he was ousted.)

[madville]

57. What investigation?

The only investigation right now is the reporting the media is doing.

[John Fante]

27. Fairfax needs to resign immediately.

[underthematrix]

34. I too do not take a position on the veracity

of the accusers but this means Fairfax has been accused by two different women at two different piints in his life of rape and sexual assault. There needs to be a criminal investigation which means he needs to resign immediately.

Link to tweet

[deurbano]

43. Can the governor immediately appoint a Lt Gov. if Fairfax resigns?! That could be a way out of all

this (eventually), without ending up with a Republican governor. In addition to all the other ways that would be a crap development, it would subvert the will of the VA voters who declined to choose a Republican for any of the top three positions!

[LisaL]

44. Fairfax denies everything so seems unlike he would be resigning.

In fact in his latest statement he says he won't resign.

[deurbano]

48. But is that how the situation is handled in VA if a Lt. Gov does resign? The governor

appoints his successor?

[rocktivity]

52. She told everyone but the cops -- and they ALL kept their mouths shut for 20 years?

And we're off!


rocktivity

[at140]

53. So you condone Kavanaugh because Dr Ford

did not go public for 30 years?

[rocktivity]

55. What I condone is any reasonable doubt going the the defendant.

rocktivity

[at140]

56. Fair enough,,,,nt

[cstanleytech]

54. Its pretty clear that a detailed investigation clearly needs to be done

and everyone involved should be questioned while under oath including the Lt Gov and if it finds he did it then he needs to be removed from office just like Trump and Kavanaugh should have been if the Repugnants had any morality.

[at140]

58. Detailed investigation after 20 years is meaningless

There will be no video of the sexual assault or witnesses, no used condoms found, no soiled dress preserved. What can investigation prove except that the two people knew each other.

I support what senator Hirono who said..."women victims must be believed".
Especially when multiple accusers emerge with courage.

[BlueStater]

61. Yep, he's done.

This isn't like the Franken situation at all. The first accuser sounded extremely credible. I don't know about this second woman, but she's not hiding her identity which is NOT a good sign at all for him.

[cstanleytech]

62. "Yep, he's done." Not necessarily.

After all multiple women came forward both about Trump and Kavanaugh and one went on to the White House and the other to the Supreme Court.

[Blue_Tires]

65. Disclaimer: I am no longer defending Justin Fairfax

If he's going to have women coming out of the woodwork (and I have no doubt that some person or persons are digging up his high school girlfriend as we speak), then yes his position is 100% untenable (on top of that he's a Dukie which is the double death)... A shame he wasn't a Republican because he'd still have a nice long political career ahead of him...

Having said that, ARE YOU FUCKIN' SHITTING ME?? Another accusation with no police report? I mean FFS, she doesn't even say in detail what happened -- Is that all it takes these days? Just saying "He raped me at some unspecified time and place!" through an attorney is enough to condemn someone?? So I'm supposed to believe she told all her friends at Duke what happened and not one of them told her to go to the police? She never shared this with a school counselor or trusted faculty member? Because they would have been legally obligated to report it to police... Can anyone help me understand why these women were too scared to say anything back when he was a nobody but now that he almost became governor through succession they found their courage?

It's clear that while nobody thinks Fairfax's (alleged) crimes are worth police investigation or jail time, a whole lot of people don't want him to be Lt. Gov. So if folks want him gone this bad, I'm no longer going to fight the tidal wave.

But all I'll say is this -- Once all the dust settles and everyone calms the hell down we need to have a good long chat over how absolutely shady this all is because destroying someone's political career over an unsubstantiated accusation and a supporting unsubstantiated half-accusation with no due process sets a really, really ugly precedent... Meanwhile Trump, Kavanaugh and god knows who else on the other side of the aisle are watching us eat our own and laughing their asses off...

[brooklynite]

70. I'm always impressed by people who HAVEN'T been raped....

...telling me what the proper behavior of people who HAVE been raped should be.

[Blue_Tires]

73. You need to put "allegedly" in there, Cap...

Just like how I'm impressed in non-Virginians telling us what to do...

But we'll see how it all plays out and we'll see who's right.

[Wabbajack_]

66. This is so sad

I thought he was a good man who could became a great Governor. If this is true he's a monster.