Responding to a Monday op-ed from Meredith Watson, the second woman to accuse Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, House Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) renewed his call for an investigation into the allegations against the state’s second highest office holder.
Fairfax denies both allegations of sexual assault and has resisted calls to resign.
“Meredith Watson is courageous for speaking out,” tweeted Cox, sharing a link to Watson’s op-ed published by the Washington Post. “I’m still hopeful we can develop a bipartisan consensus on the best way to look into these serious allegations.”
Cox, who has called on Fairfax to resign, previously signaled his openness to an investigation into the claims, but cautioned lawmakers that the unprecedented process must be “very deliberate” and bipartisan, and subject to careful consideration before proceedings begin,
“We’re obviously trying to figure out investigative authority, et cetera. I’m not ruling that out,” Cox told the Richmond Times-Dispatch last week. “I’m just saying we really need to consider where we’re at. And it needs to be bipartisan, whatever we do.”
Last weeks comments from the speaker came on the heels of an effort by Delegate Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) to introduce articles of impeachment against Fairfax. That effort stalled last Monday following pushback by House Democrats, who remain divided over how to handle the multiple allegations.
In her op-ed, Watson said she was willing to testify in public, and believed Fairfax should face similar scrutiny, dismissing Fairfax’s call for an FBI investigation, which Watson characterized as “secret proceedings, out of the public eye, leaving victims vulnerable to selective leaks and smears.”
As previously reported, the FBI lacks jurisdiction to investigate — a fact that many have said Fairfax, a former prosecutor, should know.
Watson also noted that Fairfax’s other accuser, Dr. Vanessa Tyson, has also expressed a willingness to testify in a public inquiry.
Despite their willingness, and the efforts of Delegate Hope, House Democrats have insisted that an investigation will not move forward at the present time.
“Speaker Cox still signaling his openness to giving Fairfax accusers some sort of state investigation,” tweeted Graham Moomaw, a reporter with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “House Dems still seem unwilling to go there.”
While many Democrats have called on Fairfax to resign, leadership has not issued any additional statements since the impeachment push stalled last week.
For the time being, Fairfax says he won’t resign.
With national media beginning to depart Richmond following weeks of back-to-back scandals, it appears that calls to investigate the allegations remain stuck, stymied by the efforts of ranking Democrats to outsource the investigation to prosecutors in Massachusetts and North Carolina, where the alleged assaults were reported to have occurred.