Woman Says Fairfax Committed ‘Premeditated and Aggressive’ Sexual Assault – ‘I Will Not Resign’ Lt. Gov. Says

Meredith Watson of Maryland is accusing Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax of “premeditated and aggressive” rape.

“At this time, Ms. Watson is reluctantly coming forward out of a strong sense of civic duty and her belief that those seeking or serving in public office should be of the highest character,” Watson’s attorney Nancy Erika Smith said in the statement, as The Washington Post reports. “She has no interest in becoming a media personality or reliving the trauma that has greatly affected her life. Similarly, she is not seeking any financial damages.”

Watson is the second woman to accuse Fairfax of sexual assault in the past week. The first was university professor Dr. Vanessa Tyson.

Fairfax denies the allegations, is demanding a thorough investigation, and notes he passed two full FBI background checks. “I will not resign,” he says in a statement.

“I demand a full investigation into these unsubstantiated and false allegations,” Fairfax’s statement reads. “I will clear my good name and I have nothing to hide. I have passed two full field background checks by the FBI and run for office in two highly contested elections with nothing like this being raised before.”

Watson’s attorney provided The Washington Post with an email from 2016, in which she writes to a friend, “Molly, Justin raped me in college and I don’t want to hear anything about him. Please, please, please remove me form [sic] any future emails about him please.”