Virginia’s embattled lieutenant governor, who is facing accusations of sexual assault, has hired the law firm that previously represented now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
A local NPR station reported Wednesday that Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) has hired Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz, which previously represented Kavanaugh.
“I can confirm that I and my firm have been representing the Lieutenant Governor since January 2018,” a partner at the firm told the NPR station.
The Supreme Court justice’s confirmation was nearly torpedoed after several women made allegations of sexual assault against him.
{mosads}Stanford professor Vanessa Tyson on Wednesday said Fairfax sexually assaulted her during a hotel room encounter at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
She said a consensual romantic setting with Fairfax “quickly turned into a sexual assault.”
“Mr. Fairfax put his hand behind my neck and forcefully pushed my head towards his crotch,” Tyson said in a statement released by her lawyers, adding that Fairfax forced her “to perform oral sex on him. I cannot believe, given my obvious distress, that Mr. Fairfax thought this forced sexual act was consensual.”
Tyson has retained the services of Washington law firm Katz Marshall & Banks, which previously represented Kavanaugh’s first accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
Fairfax has forcefully denied that the encounter was anything but consensual.
“At no time did she express to me any discomfort or concern about our interactions, neither during that encounter nor doing the months following it, when she stayed in touch with me, nor the past fifteen years,” Fairfax responded in his own statement. “She in no way indicated that anything that had happened between us made her uncomfortable.”
Virginia’s Democratic Party has said that the allegations against Fairfax should be considered with “profound gravity.”
“All allegations of sexual assault deserve to be taken with profound gravity. We will continue to evaluate the situation regarding Lt. Gov. Fairfax,” the party said.