The latest developments on the fallout from scandals roiling Virginia’s top officials.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Latest on fallout from scandals roiling Virginia’s top officials (all times local):
6:35 p.m.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is reaffirming his decision to not resign after two women came forward with accusations of sexual assault.
Fairfax issued a statement Saturday again denying the allegations and saying his encounters with the women were consensual. He made clear he is not immediately resigning and called for “space in this moment for due process.”
He’s also calling for authorities, including the FBI, to investigate.
Many elected officials and presidential hopefuls have called for Fairfax to resign after two women went public with allegations of sexual assault this week.
Until a week ago, Fairfax was a fast-rising star in the Democratic Party and is only the second African-American to ever hold statewide office.
The calls for Fairfax to resign come as Virginia’s Democratic governor and attorney general are embroiled in scandals involving the past use of blackface.
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1:05 p.m.
Virginia’s embattled governor says he wants to spend the remaining three years of his term pursuing racial “equity.”
Gov. Ralph Northam told The Washington Post on Saturday that there is a higher reason for the “horrific” reckoning over a racist photograph that appeared in his medical school yearbook.
The 59-year-old Democrat gave his first interview to the newspaper since the photograph surfaced.
