Jennifer Wexton Calls on Jim Plowman to Investigate Sheriff Allegations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Wexton
(703) 779-4896 - office
votewexton@gmail.com
Leesburg, VA (August 4, 2011) – Jennifer Wexton, candidate for Loudoun Commonwealth’s Attorney, called on Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman today to investigate allegations of “pay to play” campaign donations to Loudoun Sheriff Steve Simpson.
On August 3, 2011, the Washington Post published an article exposing questionable campaign donations to Simpson from organizations with contracts up for renewal the Sheriff’s Department, and from a local nonprofit agency. The article also cited an instance where a major Simpson campaign donor, convicted felon Osama El Atari, served less than 1½ hours of a four-day sentence at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
“Either all of these events have been taking place under Jim Plowman’s watch, and he knew nothing about them, or he knew what was going on and did nothing. Either way, it’s unacceptable for Loudoun’s top prosecutor not to act.” said Wexton. “That is why I delivered a letter to Mr. Plowman’s office today, officially requesting that he investigate the allegations in the Post article, to determine what, if any, violations of criminal or campaign finance laws have taken place. These are allegations where the taxpayers of Loudoun County deserve answers.”
Mr. Plowman has shown a pattern of launching politically motivated investigations and has not hesitated to pursue his chosen political targets in the past, notably his Susan Van Wagoner conflict of interest opinion, which was ultimately reversed by two courts, and his prosecution of Virginia State Senate candidate Mark Tate for campaign finance violations during the 2007 election cycle.
TEXT OF LETTER SENT TO JIM PLOWMAN:
Dear Mr. Plowman:
I trust that you have, by now, had the opportunity to read yesterday’s Washington Post article, “Donations to Loudoun Sheriff’s Campaigns Spur Questions Among Critics, Officials.” I doubt that this is the first you have heard of some or all of these allegations, as Mr. Zurn, in all likelihood, would have brought at least the Virginia Regional Transit allegations to your attention when he discovered them in July 2010.
By my letter today I am requesting that you investigate the allegations against Sheriff Simpson to determine what, if any, violations of criminal or campaign finance laws may have taken place. Allegations of this nature must be taken seriously and the taxpayers of Loudoun County deserve to know the truth. If you feel that you are unable to conduct an appropriate investigation given your personal relationship with Sheriff Simpson, I request that you let me know to whom you intend to refer this important matter.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Wexton
Nice job Jennifer. Now get the State Board of Elections to look into Speakman's bogus claim of being a resident of Loudoun. He bought a house in January but has not lived here for the required one year.
ReplyDeleteFauquier kicked him out of the Sheriff's race in 2007 for non-residence issues, why can't Loudoun?
Since she is a candidate for Commonwealth's Attorney, she should educate herself about the office. The police investigate crimes and file charges where their is probable cause. The Commonwealth's Attorney then prosecutes the charges brought by the police.
ReplyDeleteUnless the crime is a serious crime of violence, the Commonwealth's Attorney is usually not involved in an investigation except to answer questions.
Obviously Sheriff Simpson (or any Sheriff) cannot investigate their opponent. In cases where local law enforement has a "conflict," the State Police will investigate.
Therefore, Ms. Wexton's letter should have been addressed to the Virginia State Police. If she knew this and wrote the letter anyway, it is a cheap tatic unworthy of her. If she did not know to write the State Police, she should not be a candidate for the office.
Anonymous@August 5, 2011 8:59 AM (please choose a pseudonym, this is not a good name for anyone), your comment is so confused and mixed up it's hard to know where to start. Ms. Wexton said nothing about the Sheriff 'investigating his opponent', and even the previous commenter suggested investigation by the Board of Elections, not the Sheriff's Office. It seems that you fabricated that part entirely, and then based ("Therefore..") your final statement on that fabrication. Is this the kind of logic that characterizes the current CA office?
ReplyDeleteOf course it's the job of the CA to investigate corruption where there is probable cause, in cooperation with law enforcement. It's NOT the job of the CA to launch investigations of personal enemies or in the service of personal ideologies, and that is behavior we will never see with Jennifer Wexton.
Anonymous (aka blind, uninformed Plowman defender), may I refer you to the Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney homepage: The Commonwealth's Attorney is one of five Constitutional Officers in the Loudoun County Government. "The primary function of the office is to investigate and prosecute felony, misdemeanor, traffic and juvenile criminal cases in concert with local and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as complaints from private citizens."
ReplyDeleteAnything else? Or should we just assume that you'll continue to blindly defend Plowman's going after his enemies and protecting his politicaly friends. Why else has he been silent on this???
Just the Facts (not): I don't know that it is fair to suggest that Simpson is Plowman's "political friend" when Plowman has endorsed his opponent, Mike Chapman, for sheriff.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
ReplyDeletePlowman's endorsement of Chapman is really just a ploy to sure up support from the right wing of hte GOP. I wouldn't read much more into it than that. However Plowman wouldn't be in the office if it wasn't for Simpson's help back in 2003. He also contributed to him a few years back as well. I think there's enough of a case to be made that it is in fact fair to say that, although you may not agree.
JTF, Nice try, but many in the "right wing" of the GOP were supporting Chapman's primary challenger. Plowman came out for Chapman during that primary.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's time for a new pseudonym.