Embattled Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, D-Va., called for an investigation into the two allegations of sexual assault made against him in February.
At a press conference in Richmond on Wednesday, Fairfax insisted that any investigation into the allegations would exonerate him from any wrongdoing and reiterated that both encounters were consensual. He also said he is fully prepared to cooperate with local authorities in Boston, Mass., and Durham, N.C., where the two women say the alleged incidents took place, and would answer questions under oath.
“I knew the allegations made against me were false from the moment I first heard them. That is why I deny them. Because I was confident in what I was saying was true, I voluntarily submitted to two separate polygraph examinations with respect to the allegations made by Mrs. Tyson and the allegations made by Mrs. Watson,” he said in the press conference.
Fairfax said in a statement over the weekend he had passed two polygraph tests regarding the sexual assault allegations. The tests, he said, were administered by Jeremiah Hanafin, the former FBI agent who conducted a polygraph on Christine Blasey Ford, one of the women who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct during his Supreme Court confirmation process.
In the press conference, Fairfax said he is “happy to” release the full detailed results of the polygraph tests.
Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson made the allegations against Fairfax in February. Tyson alleged that she was forced to perform oral sex on Fairfax in 2004. Watson accused Fairfax of raping her while both were students at Duke University in 2000.
Their accusations came out soon after Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Va., became engulfed in scandal over the emergence of a racist yearbook photo from his days in medical school, which he said wasn’t his, and Northam’s subsequent admission that he once wore blackface.
Under Virginia law, Fairfax would have been elevated to the governorship had Northam resigned.
