A conservative group that advocates for government transparency has filed a lawsuit against Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax over a denied public records request.
Judicial Watch and Virginia resident William Marshall are asking for a year’s worth of instant chats, emails and text messages between Fairfax and his staffers about sexual assault allegations that were brought against the Lt. Governor in February.
Marshall submitted an open records request in June, seeking messages specifically discussing rape, sexual assault, Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh.
The petitioner also sought any communications regarding the possibility of Fairfax resigning.
Fairfax’ office denied the records request in July citing exemptions in Virginia public records law that apply to correspondence to and from the Lt. Governor, the Governor and members of the General Assembly.
The lawsuit claims the documents that were requested are not exempt from Virginia’s open records laws.
A spokesperson for Fairfax declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed on August 26th in Fairfax Co. Circuit Court.
