Not A Lynching

This is not good.

In a speech criticized by the House Republican Majority Leader and defended by black lawmakers

Embattled Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax compared himself to Jim Crow-era lynching victims in a surprise speech Sunday, as he resists widespread calls to resign prompted by allegations of sexual assault.

Fairfax strongly defended himself and lashed out at his critics from his rostrum in the state Senate as the 2019 legislative session was coming to a close.

“I’ve heard much about anti-lynching on the floor of this very Senate, where people were not given any due process whatsoever, and we rue that,” Fairfax said, referencing legislation the General Assembly passed expressing “profound regret” for lynchings in Virginia between 1877 and 1950.

“And we talk about hundreds, at least 100 terror lynchings that have happened in the Commonwealth of Virginia under those very same auspices. 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,” Fairfax said.

GOP legislative leaders plan to hold a hearing Monday, in which the Lieutenant Governor and his two accusers will testify, into the sexual assault charges two women have leveled against him.

The Lieutenant Governor argues that the initial rush to judgement against him is analogous to that which precipitated "at least 100 terror lynchings in Virginia between 1877 and 1950" (as against, apparently, the lynchings not to be condemned as terrorism).

We've heard little of this sort of political mau-mauing since the unqualified Clarence Thomas complained that questioning him before anointing him a lifetime member of the United States Supreme Court was "a high-tech lynching of an uppity Negro." Fairfax's debased comment serves no purpose other than as part of a base strategy (pursued by President Trump to combat Special Counsel Mueller's investigation) in which the Lieutenant Governor relies on his die-hard supporters to avoid impeachment.

Clarence Thomas had made a lifestyle out of sexual harassment.  But even if he were being unfairly accused, it was hardly a lynching, in which- he should have been reminded- people were killed. Fairfax claimed "if we go backwards, and we rush to judgment and we allow for political lynchings without any due process, any facts, any evidence being heard...." Whatever injustice has been perpetrated against Fairfax, it is not a lynching and not comparable to hanging people.

The Lieutenant Governor's fate should be determined by a full investigation of the sexual abuse allegations and not bu a loathsome remark. Nonetheless, if a white Democratic male had made the same remark, he would be condemned across the political spectrum- as he would deserve to be. We should expect no less from a black man.



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A Little More Information

Controversy swirling around the second highest elected official in Virginia may give us a glimpse into the perspective of Democratic candidates for the presidency. On Monday we were reminded by the Associated Press

Two women have made allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. But on Saturday, Fairfax issued a statement repeating his strong denials that he had ever sexually assaulted anyone and made clear he does not intend to immediately step down....

Though Virginia's congressional delegation is split

Since the two allegations against Fairfax were made, many top Democrats running for president in 2020 have called for Fairfax’s resignation, including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Attorneys for both Meredith Watson and Vanessa Tyson say their clients would testify in any impeachment hearing,   Fairfax has denied the charges and called for an FBI investigation, though it is more likely an investigation would be conducted by local police and/or prosecutors because the the offenses alleged are not federal crimes.  

He also decried a "rush to judgement" and that was before Politico reported late yesterday.

A woman who alleged Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax raped her in college was accused of harassing and threatening a man she had a relationship with, according to Maryland court records.

The man sought and received a peace order against Meredith Watson in July 2008, the records show. A peace order falls under the “umbrella term” of a restraining order in the state of Maryland, University of Maryland law professor Leigh Goodmark said. It is applied to situations in which a person may need to ask for distance from someone who isn't their spouse or live-in partner, he said

In a petition for the restraining order, obtained by POLITICO, the man described an incident in which Watson “was detaining me against my will ... [and] not letting me leave” a vacation house in Corolla, N.C., and “dented the trunk” of his vehicle with her fist. In another instance, Watson showed up at his house stating “she was going to kill herself” and sent “threatening text messages” to the man, who had his sister come over to persuade her to leave, according to the document.

Watson’s spokeswoman, Karen Kessler, did not comment for this story before publication. After the story was published a lawyer for Watson, Nancy Erika Smith, said the order granted was a seven-day court order and that Watson “was not in the Courtroom and did not know about the proceedings or have an opportunity to be heard” when it was issued. The man “abandoned the effort after hearing from Ms. Watson’s lawyer,” Smith said.

The dispute between the two centered around $2,000 that was owed to Watson and was resolved, Smith said, with the man agreeing to pay Watson. The man who filed the request for the order did not respond to a request for comment for this story, nor did Fairfax through his office.

It appears that, regrettably, the three presidential hopefuls who had it all figured out were not asked for comment.  Politico adds

Watson also told friends she was raped by former Duke University basketball player Corey Maggette, according to a report in The New York Times. “I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my life and I completely and categorically deny any such charge," Maggette, who became an NBA player, said...

The petition against Watson also stated that, “Within 30 days the respondent was at my home and wouldn’t leave [and] the respondent was throwing property and I had to call my sister over [to] the house to make her leave. On numerous occasions respondent has stated she was going to kill herself."

“This isn’t the first time or occurrence,” the man wrote.

The petition said Watson called the man “around 100 times a day” after the vacation house incident and sent him text messages.

“I am going to enjoy tearing you down just as much as you enjoyed tearing me down. Hang on tight because you are in for a ride!” read one of the alleged text messages that the man transcribed on the petition.

It still is possible that Watson was in fact raped by Justin Fairfax or that there was improper contact of some sort.  Even if not the case, there is still the matter of the charge made by Ms. Tyson.

However, this most recent information that has come to light demonstrates further that there needs to be a full investigation.  We probably then would learn why- in a question no one media outlet has had the backbone to ask- a woman raped by a man and one forced into oral intercourse evidently did not report the matter to either the local police department or the county prosecutor's office.

There may have been an awfully good reason in both cases. Still, it's a missing critical piece of this puzzle.

Also missing is an explanation by Mr. Booker, Ms. Warren, and Ms. Gillibrand as to whether they are convinced the allegations are accurate or instead believe that the charges themselves require Justin Fairfax to step down from the position to which the voters of Virginia elected him.  It's the least we should expect from individuals who are asking voters for the opportunity to pull us out of the mess we got into a long time ago, and which Donald J. Trump is aggravating almost daily.

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Oblivious

There is a serious problem oddly obscured in the current controversy over alleged sexual assaults committed by Justin Fairfax, now Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and that of sexual assaults allegedly committed decades earlier by Brett Kavanaugh.

Once Circuit Court Judge Kavanaugh appeared on a short list of nominees for the US Supreme Court, Christine Blasey Ford wrote US Senator Dianne Feinstein, charging that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s, when she was 15 and he was 17.   The information eventually became the primary controversy in the Senate Judiciary Committee considering the nomination.

Deborah Ramirez also charged Kavanaugh with sexual misconduct, which would have occurred a few years later, when both individuals were attending Yale University. Declaring loyalty to Kavanaugh, the White House labeled the accusation a "35-year-old, uncorroborated claim" which "is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign."

It wasn't coordinated- but never mind. It was, of course, uncorroborated, neither proven nor disproved.

Following an additional, cursory investigation, the Senate Judiciary Committee (possibly inaccurately) declared there was "no evidence to substantiate any of the claims" of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.

There had been six (6) investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of Brett Kavanaugh in the quarter century spanning the period of 1993 to 2018- and a partisan GOP committee did not exonerate the candidate, only claiming there was "no evidence."

After Meredith Watson, then Vanessa Tyson, recently accused Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, the Lieutenant Governor released a statement which included  “I demand a full investigation into these unsubstantiated and false allegations. I will clear my good name and I have nothing to hide. I have passed two full field background checks by the FBI and run for office in two highly contested elections with nothing like this being raised before.”

Fairfax cites "two full field background checks by the FBI."  Similarly, supporters of Brett Kavanaugh had cited the "full-field investigations" conducted of Kavanaugh on several occasions.

And yet, this: all these investigations by the highly-touted Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau came up with nothing. Nothing.

That begs the question of why the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting inadequate investigations of public figures. Even if none of the charges against either Kavanaugh or Fairfax is valid (an extremely improbable scenario), they are accusations the FBI presumably did not learn of (or alternatively, buried).

Donald Trump, and to a lesser extent, his supporters have been attacking the FBI for the better part of two years. However, they do not question the competence or efficiency of America's top law enforcement agency, but instead its over-zealousness, and that only because it has been investigating Donald Trump.

Responding to criticism of the bureau from Team Russia, Democrats have only heaped praise upon the agency.  It has been, consequently, immune from legitimate criticism. But after Donald Trump is removed, one way or the other, from office, there should be an investigation into the investigators, because the Federal Bureau of Investigation has not been living up to its hype.

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We Don't Need No Stinking Investigation!

As The Washington Post has reported

A Maryland woman said Friday that she was sexually assaulted by Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) in a “premeditated and aggressive” attack in 2000, while both were undergraduate students at Duke University. She is the second woman this week to accuse him of sexual assault. Fairfax forcefully denied both allegations.

Democratic Party leaders quickly called for Fairfax to resign, including the influential Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. Many who had withheld judgment after the first allegation this week said they could no longer stand by him, including most of Virginia’s Democratic congressional delegation and national Democrats with presidential aspirations.

While Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) said Fairfax should resign if the allegations were true, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) offered no such equivocation. “The allegations against him detail atrocious crimes, and he can no longer effectively serve the Commonwealth,” Kaine said in a statement. “We cannot ever ignore or tolerate sexual assault"...

The new accusation against Fairfax came from Meredith Watson, who said Friday in a statement through her attorney that she shared her account with several classmates and friends immediately after the alleged assault occurred. Watson did not speak publicly Friday, and her lawyer did not make her available for an interview.

“I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation,” Fairfax responded in a statement. “It is demonstrably false. I have never forced myself on anyone ever.”

Asked what evidence Fairfax had that would demonstrate that the charge was false, spokeswoman Lauren Burke said: “In due time, all the facts will come out.”

If it's up to several Democrats- Terry McAuliffe, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Kamala Harris-  who have announced, or may announce, for the Democratic nomination for President- the facts probably will not come out.

All those Democrats, as well as at least five Democratic US Representatives, have called on the Lieutenant Governor to resign.  And they are all wrong.

If the charges against Fairfax are as they seem and the pleas for him to resign are legitimate (reasonable), they are sufficientlyserious to warrant an investigation.

That investigation should have been conducted 18-19 years when the alleged violent crimes took place. Unfortunately, the attack never was reported- or so it seems, in the absence of any reporting to the contrary- and the people of North Carolina (in Tyson's case, Massachusetts) thereby were denied the inquiry they deserved.

McAuliffe, the immediate ex-governor of Virginia, recognizes the charges as "serious" and as "credible."Yet, when a defendant is charged with a crime, a grand jury indicts the individual- thereby concluding the serious charge is credible- and he is not automatically punished or penalized, instead given an opportunity to go to trial or to negotiate a plea. A lieutenant governor should be given similar consideration.

Notwithstanding the statement of public officials that Justin Fairfax must not wait for the civil equivalent of indictment but instead resign immediately, there must be a prompt and thorough investigation. That might benefit Fairfax, whose political career (and more) will otherwise have been unjustly destroyed if the accusations are invalid. If they are largely accurate, however, the two women who maintain they were sexually assaulted deserve complete vindication.

The behavior alleged is dreadful and appalling. However, in a democratic republic, we do not lightly overturn the will of the people. That includes those in the state of Virginia, whom Fairfax serve, and the  voters of Virginia, who elected him. All deserve assurance that the truth has been sought and as much as possible, determined.

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