Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase filed a lawsuit on Monday asserting that she was unfairly censured last month by the Virginia state Senate.
Chase, a Republican, alleges that the Democratic-controlled Senate violated her constitutional rights with its censure, which followed her being stripped of her sole committee assignment. A statement from her staff argued that the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, was a necessary response to the Virginia Senate’s “knowingly and deliberate violations offending the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution as well as a total disregard to follow its own due process rules in issuing the censure.”
“This censure of the Plaintiff violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as the Plaintiff is being singled out and selectively penalized for taking unpopular political positions that the majority of the members of the Virginia Senate disagree with,” the statement said.
By participating in the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 and seeming to defend those who had stormed the Capitol, Chase displayed a “pattern of unacceptable conduct,” according to her fellow state senators, who voted 24-9 to censure her. Though Chase attended the rally portion of the day, she was not part of the group that forced its way into the Capitol. Former President Donald Trump spoke at the same rally and encouraged supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol to protest lawmakers affirming President Biden’s victory. Trump was impeached by the House and now faces a Senate trial for one charge of incitement of insurrection.
Three Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting on behalf of SR91, the resolution censuring Chase, criticizing her for “conduct unbecoming” of a senator. No penalty is included in a censure.
“This is not a First Amendment issue for me. It’s about hypocrisy and integrity,” said Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, who voted in favor of the censure motion.
Chase fired back at Norment, accusing him of corruption.
“The reason I left the Republican Senate Caucus, sir, is because of your improprieties and your constantly being in the press with affairs and lying and corporate donations,” she told Norment on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
In a floor speech last month, Chase distanced herself from the riot by reflecting on the events of Jan. 6, including the death of Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and Trump supporter who was fatally shot during the siege of Congress.
“We remember Ashli and the three who died of medical emergencies and the Capitol Police officer who died during the chaos at the Capitol,” she remarked. “These were not rioters and looters. These were patriots who love their country and do not want to see our great republic turned into a socialist country.”
Chase later clarified that when she used the word “patriots,” she was referring to those who had stood beside her at the rally “before all the mayhem took place.”
“When you give them no other options, when you cheat them of their elections, when you take away their constitutional rights and freedoms, you’re backing patriots like myself into a corner,” Chase said in a video in which she acknowledged that she had attended the rally. “We would like to have a peaceful [resolution] to the events of today, but as you can see, there are already many patriots, [and] we’ve had enough.”
Chase is a candidate for the state’s gubernatorial election this year, a fact that she noted when sharing her outrage at the censure resolution.
“You have the audacity to stand on the floor of this Senate and condemn me? How dare you!” she said in a debate before the censure vote. “Don’t you think the timing of today’s censure is lost on me when two other Republican candidates announced that they are running for governor yesterday and today.”
The controversy comes months ahead of the Republican Party’s expected convention to nominate its candidate for governor of Virginia, a race to be held on Nov. 2.
With the commonwealth increasingly trending blue, Republicans are packing into a crowded field of contenders vying to end the statewide drought. Contenders include state Del. Kirk Cox, who was speaker of the Virginia House before Democrats won control; businessman Glenn Youngkin, who is expected to self-fund his campaign; and Pete Snyder, a businessman-philanthropist who argues that incumbent Gov. Ralph Northam has “failed … and embarrassed” his constituents.
