Accused Rapist Justin Fairfax OUT At His Law Firm
Patrick Howley
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Virginia Democrat lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax is out at his law firm.
Fairfax is resigning from his partner role at Morrison and Foerster after a five-month leave since Big League Politics first broke the allegations of Stanford fellow Dr. Vanessa Tyson, who claimed that Fairfax sexually assaulted her at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston while Fairfax was working as the “body man” for John Edwards. Fairfax previously worked at the high-powered establishment law firm WilmerHale. The Washington Post interviewed Fairfax and Tyson long before BLP broke the news, but covered the story up and did not print a story about the allegation against then-rising Democrat Fairfax.
A second woman, former Duke classmate Meredith Watson, also accused Fairfax of raping her. Former Democrat Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe called for Fairfax to resign immediately from his lieutenant governorship, but Fairfax has been hanging on as his superior, Governor Ralph Northam, fights fallout from a blackface scandal.
Nancy Erika Smith, attorney for Democrat Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax’s second sexual assault accuser Meredith Watson, blasted Fairfax for his “changing story” and for fighting against a public hearing in the Virginia legislature, which both Watson and Fairfax’s first accuser Dr. Vanessa Tyson are fighting to convene.
Watson accuses Fairfax of raping her while they were both students at Duke University, while Tyson said Fairfax sexually assaulted her at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, while Fairfax was working as a “body man” for John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential nominee that year. Big League Politics first reported on Tyson’s accusation, prompting Fairfax to reportedly proclaim “F– that B–ch” with regard to Tyson.
Watson’s attorney Nancy Erika Smith states:
“If Justin Fairfax wanted the public to know the truth, he would have welcomed the hearing in the Virginia legislature requested by Ms. Tyson & Ms. Watson. All parties will testify under oath and present witnesses. That is the last thing in the world Fairfax wants and he has fought it at every turn.
Fairfax’s changing story speaks for itself. First: the rapes didn’t happen. Then: the sex was consensual. His new claim – never before made – that Ms. Watson engaged in the crime of blackmail, is defamatory. Ms. Watson, who unlike Mr. Fairfax has always been consistent, didn’t want to put herself or Fairfax’s family (she knew his wife at Duke) through the public revelation of another rape allegation, so she gave him the opportunity to resign. Ms. Watson never threatened to sue Fairfax and never demanded money or favors. When Fairfax refused to step down, Ms. Watson felt that Dr. Tyson and the public deserved the truth.
Regarding the other statements in Fairfax’s lawyer’s recent letter: 1. The claim that there was “elapsed time” before Ms. Watson told others about the rape is false. There was no “elapsed time” between Fairfax’s rape of Meredith Watson and her revealing it to several people who have already publicly confirmed her immediate report. Then, Ms. Watson repeatedly told others over the following years, people who have publicly confirmed it. Before Fairfax was elected, Ms. Watson emailed a person working on his campaign and revealed the rape. All of this evidence has been reported. 2. Justin Fairfax – a lawyer – pushing the alleged polygraph results is an insult to the public. Mr. Fairfax is well aware that the highest court in Virginia has made it clear that so-called lie detector tests are wholly unreliable and inadmissible. Gary Ridgeway – who murdered 49 women – passed a lie detector test that an innocent man had failed. So did convicted spy Aldrich Ames. It’s shameful for Fairfax and his lawyer to push such voodoo out as relevant. 3. Of course, Fairfax wants a secret, months- or years-long criminal investigation that he will use as an excuse not to answer any questions in public. He says he wants due process, but a hearing is due process. He still refuses to answer questions – as both accusers have done. Instead, he has his lawyers issue letters full of false and defamatory claims. 4. Note that Fairfax criticizes his rape victims for openly answering Gayle King’s questions on TV. Ms. King offered Mr. Fairfax the opportunity to answer questions too – he would not. Fairfax refuses to answer questions in the Legislature and in the media. That says it all.”
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