RICHMOND, Va. — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is confirming a published report that he's been interviewed by the FBI about the origins of two sexual assault allegations against him.
In 2019, two women accused him of assaulting them, one in 2000 and the other in 2004. They publicly revealed the alleged incidents just as then-Gov. Ralph Northam was being pressured to resign following a blackface scandal. Fairfax would have been named governor.
Fairfax has maintained his innocence and has always suspected the allegations were the result of a political hit job.
He said in June of this year, he sat down with FBI agents for three hours in the Richmond office and answered questions about potential ties to the allegations and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
This is not the first time Fairfax has named political rival Stoney as possibly being connected to how the accusations came to light. The mayor has repeatedly denied any link.
Addressing reporters' questions at a news conference Wednesday called on another topic -- Stoney said he hasn't been contacted by the FBI.
"My response to those allegations is the response I had in 2019: That we had absolutely nothing to do with the situation surrounding Mr. Fairfax," Stoney said.
Stoney called Fairfax an accused rapist.
"These baseless claims continue to come back from him again, and we've again told you what we know, and we know absolutely nothing about his situation," he said.
In a statement to 13 News Now, Fairfax said:
"I can confirm the report in The Intercept that the FBI is investigating the details of how these false and vicious allegations surfaced. Investigators have been given evidence regarding the orchestration of a lengthy smear campaign. For over three years, I have asked for this matter to be investigated because I knew the allegations were patently false and I knew that I would be exonerated."
Back in 2019, Fairfax asked prosecutors in both jurisdictions, Durham, NC and Boston, in which the assaults allegedly took place to investigate. He has said the incidents were never criminally investigated as he requested. He also released results from two polygraph tests that indicate he was truthful when asked about the alleged incidents.
13News Now spoke to two other people who said they were also recently contacted by the FBI. One wished to remain anonymous. The other, Danville NAACP President Tommy Bennett said he was contacted in June by an FBI agent. Bennett formerly worked on Fairfax's campaign for lieutenant governor.
Bennett provided two text messages to 13News Now he said are from an FBI agent trying to arrange a meeting that has yet to happen.
In an email to 13News Now, FBI-Richmond Division Public Affairs Specialist Dee Rybiski said she could not confirm whether or not an investigation is occurring.
Nancy Erika Smith, the attorney for accuser Meredith Watson, gave 13News Now a sharp response to news of an FBI probe:
If it is true that the FBI is actually investigating two victims of Justin Fairfax, shame on the FBI.
This latest abuse is obviously at the urging of Fairfax and his political benefactors and PR team. I remind them all that Martha Stewart went to prison for lying to the FBI. It is a federal crime. Anyone who says my client concocted a story about Fairfax in 2019, or got paid to reveal her statement that she was raped by Justin Fairfax when they were students at Duke, is a liar. Fairfax’s defamation suit against CBS over the Gayle King interview of my client was dismissed. His constant harassment of my client is disgusting. Numerous people have corroborated Ms. Watson’s fresh complaints of rape immediately afterward and over the years. In fact, several newspapers printed an email she sent to Duke alumni before Fairfax was Lt. Governor. Enough is enough.
Watson accused Fairfax of assaulting her in 2000 while they were students at Duke University.
The other accuser, Vanessa Tyson said Fairfax assaulted her in 2004 while they were both attending the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Fairfax has said both encounters were consensual.