Despite denials from Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, his accusers reportedly say they’ll testify at potential impeachment

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Two women who accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault are reportedly prepared to testify in the case of impeachment, according to emails obtained by NBC News.
The development comes despite Fairfax’s flat denial of the allegations and his calls for a federal investigation of the claims.
Attorneys for one of the women said they would be able to produce witnesses and documents that prove she told others about the assault.
Fairfax is one of three Virginia state lawmakers in the middle of swirling controversy, and has been threatened with impeachment proceedings if he does not resign.

Two women who accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault are reportedly prepared to testify.

NBC News reported that Dr. Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson would speak at a potential impeachment hearing to stand behind their accounts they originally surfaced last week about two incidents four years apart.

The development further complicates Fairfax’s side of the story, which began with flat denial before he called for the FBI to investigate the women’s claims.

Dr. Tyson, a professor at Scripps College in California and a fellow at Stanford University, made a statement last Wednesday detailing her accusation that Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004 during the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Two days later, Watson came forward with her story, alleging that Fairfax raped her while both were attending Duke University in 2000. According to the statement, the two were friends but not in a romantic relationship.

Nancy Erika Smith, an attorney for Meredith Watson, said in a statement to NBC that they would be able to provide "at least two witnesses whom Ms. Watson told of the assault the day after Fairfax raped her," and "documentary evidence of Ms. Watson revealing to others the fact that Fairfax raped her."

Fairfax has so far resisted calls from several congressional lawmakers, including several Democratic presidential candidates, to resign, and told INSIDER in a statement through a spokesperson last week that he demanded "a full investigation into these unsubstantiated and false allegations."

"Such an investigation will confirm my account because I am telling the truth," the statement said.

Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates Patrick Hope said Friday that he will introduce articles of impeachment if Fairfax doesn’t announce his resignation by Monday.

Attorneys for Dr. Tyson said in a statement to NBC that Fairfax’s denial and attempts to discredit the claims "says all you need to know about his lack of fitness to serve in public office."

Fairfax is under harsh scrutiny alongside other top Virginia state officials.

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has similarly refused to resign amid the resurfacing of a photo from his 1984 medical-school yearbook in which he is suspected of either wearing blackface or a Ku Klux Klan-like robe.

After Northam initially said he was in the photo, he denied being in that specific photo but said he did wear blackface when dressing up as Michael Jackson for a dance contest. Virginia’s attorney general also said this week he wore blackface in the 1980s.

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Source: Business Insider