And… pretty much every other Virginia Dem, too.
If you had “Democrats conduct impeachment” in your 2019 pool, prepare to collect your winnings — but not in the way anyone would have guessed a month ago. Rather than Congress impeaching Donald Trump, Democrats in Virginia will begin impeachment proceedings on Monday against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax after multiple allegations of sexual assault emerged over the last week. The odds of impeachment succeeding went up considerably last night when Fairfax lost the support of the Legislative Black Caucus:
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus (VLBC) called on Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) to resign Friday after a second woman came forward to accuse him of sexual assault.
The group of state legislators had initially refrained from calling for the lieutenant governor to step aside this week, but issued the statement Friday night amid mounting calls for him to resign after a woman accused him of rape.
“In light of the most recent sexual assault allegations against Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus believes it is best for Lt. Governor Fairfax to step down from his position,” the caucus said in a statement.
Here’s the statement in full:
Virginia Legislative Black Caucus Statement on Most Recent Sexual Allegations Against Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax pic.twitter.com/Bbj8sn4gF5
— VLBC (@VaBlackCaucus) February 9,2019
That wasn’t the end of Fairfax’s bad night either. Democrat Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both of whom had initially resisted the impulse to demand a resignation from Ralph Northam, publicly called for Fairfax to step down. “If these allegations concerning Lieutenant Governor Fairfax are accurate,” Warner said in a statement, “then they are clearly disqualifying and he must resign.
