Staffer Admits to “Willful Neglect of Election Duty,” Commonwealth’s Counsel Says There May Be More There-There
A staffer who worked on former Congressman Scott Taylor’s 2018 campaign pleaded guilty to “willful neglect of election duty” in what has become known as the petition-gate scandal.
REMINDER: Special Prosecutor Don Caldwell said Taylor—while in his Washington D.C. office– directed his staff to collect signatures to get independent candidate Shaun Brown on the ballot in an attempt to swing the 2018 election. Taylor’s staffers then broke the law in collecting fraudulent petition signatures.
And while Scott Taylor claims he has been “exonerated,” the Roanoke Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, John Beamer, said not so fast: “Those are his words. We did not say that. I’d refer back to our previous statement.”
That previous statement from the Commonwealth’s Attorney of Roanoke? “At this point in time, what actually happened within the campaign headquarters is still a subject of investigation due primarily to the lack of cooperation of key individuals with the VSP investigator.”
That doesn’t sound like any kind of exoneration to us.
And this week, Beamer reiterated that this investigation is still ongoing and that there are “likely” to be more indictments.
“The same scandal that derailed Scott Taylor’s reelection bid in 2018 will end his retread campaign in 2020,” said DCCC Spokesperson Christine Bennett.
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