Democrats sweep Virginia races
Fox News co-anchor Sandra Smith dives into the stories that defined election results in Virginia during Fox News special election coverage.
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A sexual harassment allegation in the 11th hour of a congressional campaign that derailed a Virginia Democrat has resulted in two settlements from defendants in a defamation lawsuit he filed after the campaign ended.
“The matter was settled to the satisfaction of the Parties, and the terms are confidential,” Virginia House of Delegates member Dan Helmer said in a press release in late October.
The press release stated Helmer reached a settlement with two of the three defendants he sued for defamation: Avram Fechter and attorney Charles King. The statement described these settlements as “an important step in finally closing the dark chapter for Delegate Helmer” and said his defamation case against the woman who he claims made the allegations, the third defendant Lissa Savaglio, is still open.
Two weeks before the Democratic primary for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District last June, Helmer was leading in several polls and looked to be the frontrunner heading into the general election in the Democrat-heavy district.
Dan Helmer on the campaign trail. (Getty)
But, just a week before the election, that changed after a media report revealed that members of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee were accusing Helmer of sexual harassment. Days later, King, an attorney for the alleged victim, released the following statement.
“After a political event in 2018, Mr. Helmer groped my client’s breast,” King wrote. “In later conversations with others, Helmer sexually described the woman’s physique and talked about different sexual positions he wanted to try with her and other women.”
Helmer denied the claims, but ultimately lost his race for Congress by four percentage points to Democrat Suhas Subramanyam. After the election, Helmer filed a defamation lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court against King, Fechter and Savaglio.
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The Virginia Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, file)
In Helmer’s $15 million defamation lawsuit, he alleged a coordinated effort by Helmer’s political opponents and Loudoun County Democrats to push allegations of sexual misconduct they knew were false. Helmer’s suit claims that the alleged groping could not have physically taken place because photographs from the evening in question showed he and Savaglio did not attend the same political event. The suit also alleges that Savaglio told Helmer after the fact that he had “never acted inappropriately toward her.”
“Because of a mix of personal, political, and financial motivations, Savaglio intentionally published known falsehoods to harm [me],” the lawsuit states.
An attorney who spoke to Fox News Digital suggested that the settlements represented a political victory for Helmer.
“They must have had enough black and white to force them to the table and force them to settle and that’s pretty remarkable,” Virginia attorney Jeffrey Breit told Fox News Digital. “It’s unusual to see that in political cases.“
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Voting booths on election night. (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
“What makes it interesting in this case is defamation cases are very very hard to win nationwide and in Virginia because of so much you have to show for intent, truth, lots of issues that you have to do in a defamation case which makes them very, very hard,” Breit explained. “And so the fact that he could file a suit having lost because of what was said and force these people, one to the table, and two to settle, to me shows they had real evidence that this was false.”
When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Fechter said the terms of the settlement prohibit him from commenting on the matter.
King told the Loudon-Times Mirror that he is limited on what he can comment on but did tell the outlet he is “very, very satisfied.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Savaglio for comment but did not receive a response.
Democrats had a big night in Virginia last Tuesday across the board on election night, including the House of Delegates where they expanded their majority control. Helmer won re-election in District 10, defeating a Republican challenger.
