The controversy surrounding Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax exploded early Sunday just after Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam faced resignation calls for having donned blackface decades ago. | Steve Helber/AP Photo Virginia Virginia lieutenant governor hires law firm that represented Kavanaugh

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, facing an accusation of sexual assault, has hired the same firm that represented Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his bruising confirmation hearings that revolved around claims that he had sexually asssaulted women.

Fairfax’s hiring of Wilkinson Walsh Eskovitz is just one echo between his case and Kavanaugh’s.


Fairfax’s accuser, college professor Vanessa Tyson, has hired the same law firm used by Kavanaugh’s accuser Katz, Marshall and Banks, which is based in Washington like Wilkinson Walsh.

But the similarities might end there.

Unlike in Kavanaugh’s case — when Democrats insisted female accusers be believed — Democrats’ responses to the accusations against the Democratic lieutenant governor have been more muted. And while Tyson and Fairfax are both Democrats, Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh were from different parties.

The reaction to the two cases from Tyson’s home-state senator, 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris, underscores the different approaches. In September, Harris bluntly said “I believe her” when it came to Ford’s account. On Thursday, when pressed by reporters about Tyson’s story, Harris gave a more toned-down response, saying it “suggests that there’s credibility there.”

Some Republicans have had an about-face of sorts in demanding resignations after so strongly supporting Kavanaugh.

Another difference between the incidents: Fairfax hired his legal representation before Kavanaugh hired his own, when The Washington Post first began examining Tyson’s accusations but declined to run a story about them in March.

“Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz was retained by the Lieutenant Governor in January 2018 with respect to a possible story in a media publication and we are currently representing him,” Rakesh Kilaru, an attorney for the firm said in a written statement.

Lawrence Roberts, Fairfax’s chief of staff, acknowledged Fairfax hired the firm in January 2018 after being contacted by The Washington Post about the allegation.

Roberts said the firm remained part of the team and has continued to advise Fairfax since then, though he didn’t need formal legal services after the Post decided not to publish a story. He said Fairfax again contacted them for assistance last week after the allegations resurfaced.

Roberts said Fairfax hired the firm and is paying for its services with his own money, not government funds.

The controversy surrounding Fairfax — the only statewide elected African-American in Virginia — exploded early Sunday just after Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam faced resignation calls for having donned blackface decades ago. On Wednesday, Attorney General Mark Herring admitted he, too, wore blackface as a young man.

At the same time, Tyson went public with a detailed account of what she said was an assault by Fairfax at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 when, she said, he forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Tyson’s statement indicated that she decided to go public, in part, because of Fairfax’s “despicable” reaction to the emerging story and his attacks on her character, in which he denied the charges, threatened legal action and falsely stated that the Post declined to print the story because of inconsistencies with her story.

