Democratic congresswoman turns on Justin Fairfax: ‘I believe Dr. Vanessa Tyson’

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A prominent Democrat has broken party ranks to support a woman who has accused Virginia’s Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexually assaulting her.

In an ominous development for Fairfax, freshman Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., used Twitter to say she believed Vanessa Tyson, who claims Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him in a hotel room in 2004.

“I believe Dr. Vanessa Tyson,” Wexton, who was endorsed by Fairfax in her 2018 race against Republican former Rep. Barbara Comstock, tweeted Wednesday. Wexton and Fairfax, a Democrat who was elected lieutenant governor in 2017, also briefly served together when she was a Virginia state senator.

The National Republican Congressional Committee had earlier condemned Wexton for not denouncing Fairfax, given that Wexton criticized Comstock in the fall for failing to speak out against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after he faced several allegations of sexual misconduct.

“Jennifer Wexton has an opportunity to be a leader on this issue,” NRCC spokeswoman Camille Gallo said in a statement Tuesday, mimicking Wexton’s statement against Comstock. “There’s an opportunity to be not only a leader for women but to stand up to her party. What is she doing when it’s her friend who is the subject of allegations?”

The National Organization for Women also urged Fairfax to step down from his post Wednesday and called Tyson’s story “horrifying.”

“We believe and support survivors,” the organization said in a statement. “We always believe and support survivors.”

Tyson, a political science professor at Scripps College and visiting fellow at Stanford University, shared her account of the alleged assault on Wednesday. Although Tyson said Fairfax’s initial advances were welcomed, she claimed that Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him without her consent in 2004 at a Democratic convention in Boston.

“Utterly shocked and terrified, I tried to move my head away, but could not because his hand was holding down my neck and he was much stronger than me,” Tyson wrote in a statement. “As I cried and gagged, Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him.”

Fairfax has denied the accusations. The scandal emerged after a racist photo from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook was unearthed. Fairfax would replace Northam, also a Democrat, in the event he steps down.

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