The Latest: Fairfax: Woman never told him of her discomfort

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Latest on the political turmoil in Virginia amid admissions of blackface, accusations of sexual assault (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax says a woman alleging sexual misconduct never told him she was uncomfortable with what happened during the encounter or in the years after.

Fairfax issued a statement Wednesday reiterating that he had a consensual encounter with the woman 15 years ago. He said he was an unmarried law student at the time.

The Associated Press is not reporting the details of the Fairfax accusation because AP has not been able to corroborate it. The woman making the accusation hasn’t returned messages form the AP seeking comment.

Fairfax said the woman expressed no discomfort at the time, or during the years afterward. He said the first he heard about the accusation was when he was approached by a news outlet in 2018 after his inauguration.

Fairfax is next in line for Virginia’s highest office if Gov. Ralph Northam steps down over a racist photo scandal.

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11:35 a.m.

Another top Virginia Democrat has admitted to wearing blackface decades ago. Attorney General Mark Herring issued a statement Wednesday saying he wore brown makeup and a wig in 1980 to look like a black rapper during a party as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.

The revelation further roils the top levels of Virginia government. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax are already facing controversies, and Herring would be next in line to be governor after those two men.

Many including Herring have urged Northam to resign after the discovery of a photo of someone in blackface on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. Fairfax, next in line to be governor, has been accused of sexual misconduct, which he denies.