- The Washington Times - Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Independent investigators announced Wednesday they could not determine whether Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was in a racially-charged photo in his medical school yearbook.

McGuireWoods law firm, the organization assigned to investigate the Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook image, said they “could not conclusively determine” whether Mr. Northam is in a photo of two people — one depicted in black face and the other in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

“No individual that we interviewed has told us from personal knowledge that the governor is in the photograph, and no individual with knowledge has come forward to us to report that the governor is in the photograph,” investigators said in their report.

The law firm noted they made this determination after the Democratic governor’s “inconsistent public statements” on whether he was in the image.

Mr. Northam initially apologized for appearing in the photograph, but later backpedaled and said he was not in the picture after he “had a chance to step back, take a deep breath” and study the photo.

He did admit to using shoe polish to darken his face as part of a dance contest in the 1980s.

Shortly after Mr. Northam’s revelation, Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring admitted that he also had appeared in blackface in the 1980s to imitate a rap group at a college contest.

Both Mr. Northam and Mr. Herring resisted calls for their resignation.

• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.

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