Republicans claim Democrats won’t allow Lt. Gov Fairfax sexual abuse accusers to testify
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House Republican leaders in Virginia charge that Democrats are blocking efforts to allow two women to testify in a public hearing about alleged sexual misconduct they say they experienced at the hands of Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Kirk Cox said in a statement that Democratic leaders refuse to hold a bipartisan hearing allowing the alleged victims’ Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson to testify about claims of sexual abuse against Fairfax, Richmond.com reports.
“There should be no mistake about what has happened here: the alleged victims are seeking a bipartisan hearing; Republicans are seeking a bipartisan hearing; Democrats in the House of Delegates are refusing to allow that to happen,” Cox said.
In response, Democratic leader Filler-Corn said: “Law enforcement officials are best equipped to investigate these matters, and we certainly would not want to harm their inquiries or deny due process to either the complainants or the Lieutenant Governor by conducting a hearing that could easily be exploited for political purposes.”
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Vanessa Tyson came forward as the first woman to accuse Fairfax of rape when she detailed an incident at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston that began as consensual but quickly turned into an assault.
Meredith Watson says that Fairfax assaulted her while they were classmates at Duke University in 2000.
Both women did a national interview with CBS News’ Gayle King and expressed they wanted a public hearing so they could be heard and presence evidence to support their claims.
Fairfax has denied the allegations by Tyson and Watson and said the encounters were consensual.
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