From the McAuliffe for Governor campaign:
The ongoing scandal over the secret assistance that Ken Cuccinelli’s office has provided to an out-of-state energy company donor to fight Southwest Virginia landowners has alarmed Virginians across the Commonwealth.
This weekend, Cuccinelli and his office gave up on answering basic questions about the scandal. Cuccinelli refused, for a third time, to take any questions from reporters on the issue with his staff saying he was ‘late for debate preparation.’ Cuccinelli’s office simply stopped responding to questions from reporters, with his Communications Director writing, “I’m not dealing with you anymore” after claiming that the scandal could be partially attributed to the geographic distance between different state offices. Seriously.
It's obvious why Cuccinelli is no longer speaking to the press: His explanation has been proven false. When the scandal broke, Cuccinelli claimed that his office was only attempting to defend the constitutionality of a state law – a claim that was easily disproven by the emails themselves and mocked by editorial boards across Virginia.
Cuccinelli’s attempt to distance himself from the scandal have been equally ham-handed as his office already confirmed to the Roanoke Times that Cuccinelli was fully briefed on the case.
At this week’s debate Cuccinelli should finally admit what everyone else has already concluded: The Attorney General’s office was working with an out-of-state energy company to prevent Southwest Virginia landowners from being paid what they are owed.
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