NORFOLK, Va. — There is more action in former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax's attempt to clear his name.
In 2019, Fairfax was accused of sexually assaulting two women, one in 2000 and the other in 2004. The allegations came just as then-Governor Ralph Northam was being pressured to resign amid a blackface scandal.
Fairfax would have been appointed governor had Northam resigned.
In the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Fairfax filed a $35 million defamation lawsuit against New York Public Radio targeting comments made in an August 2021 program called "The Takeaway."
During the show, accuser Dr. Vanessa Tyson was interviewed and audio clips from a previous interview with accuser Meredith Watson were also played.
The lawsuit claims sexual assault allegations were "published, republished, repeated, endorsed and presented as fact – both expressly and in context – with actual malice" by NYPR.
NYPR has not responded yet to a request for comment by 13News Now.
Fairfax has maintained the encounters between him and the two women were consensual.
Attorneys for both women have been unwavering in their defense of their clients' accounts. In a statement to 13News Now, Tyson's attorney, Debra Katz said, "Dr. Tyson stands by her allegations."
The defamation lawsuit comes after Fairfax revealed last month the FBI is probing a possible political motivation behind the allegations surfacing in the first place.