Rep. Bobby Scott, Virginia Democrat, reportedly learned about the sexual assault accusations against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — directly from accuser Vanessa Tyson.
In a report Wednesday evening citing unnamed aides to Mr. Scott, ABC News said that Ms. Tyson told Mr. Scott via text message in December 2017 that there was a “MeToo allegation” against the newly elected lieutenant governor but did not specify that she was the woman.
Within a month, Scott aides told ABC, the congressman learned that Ms. Tyson was the purported victim, that she had gone to the Washington Post with her complaint, and that she had given the newspaper Mr. Scott’s name as a character witness.
The aides told ABC they did not know what Mr. Scott, the dean of Virginia’s U.S. House delegation and the object of sexual harassment complaints by a former aide four years previously, did what the accusation against Mr. Fairfax.
Ms. Tyson has accused Mr. Fairfax of forcing oral sex on her at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Mr. Fairfax has denied wrongdoing, saying all sexual contact between the two was consensual.
Mr. Scott’s response to the ABC report was to issue a statement saying “allegations of sexual assault need to be taken seriously. I have known Professor Tyson for approximately a decade and she is a friend. She deserves the opportunity to have her story heard.”
According to the Scott aides who spoke to ABC News, the congressman says Ms. Tyson never told him of her charges about Mr. Fairfax, despite their longstanding friendship, until December 2017 or January 2018.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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