Fairfax denies sexual assault allegation in 3 a.m. statement

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax’s office put out a 3 a.m. statement denying a sexual assault allegation published late Sunday by the same right-wing media outlet that first published Gov. Ralph Northam’s yearbook page.

Fairfax said the Washington Post investigated the claim more than a year ago and opted not to publish a story in “the absence of any evidence corroborating the allegation, and significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegation.”

In a story posted Monday afternoon, the Washington Post disputed that account, writing they did not publish the story because they could not independently corroborate it, citing the fact that the woman didn’t tell anyone about what had happened and that interviews with Fairfax’s past acquaintances did not turn up any similar complaints of sexual misconduct.

The Post wrote that they did not find “significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations.”

According to The Post:

Fairfax (D), who was not married at the time, has denied her account through his attorneys and described the encounter as consensual.

The woman described a sexual encounter that began with consensual kissing and ended with a forced act that left her crying and shaken. She said Fairfax guided her to the bed, where they continued kissing, and then at one point she realized she could not move her neck. She said Fairfax used his strength to force her to perform oral sex.

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— Justin Fairfax (@FairfaxJustin) February 4, 2019

The site that aired the claim Sunday, Big League Politics, is backed by Republican operatives, the Wall Street Journal reports, and has come under scrutiny in the wake of its Northam bombshell.

“Big League Politics was founded by ex-Breitbart staffers who thought the site was too mainstream,” Mother Jones wrote.

Fairfax’s statement says he will “take appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation.”