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Ralph Northam Investigation Ends Without Answers on Racist Photo Ralph Northam Investigation Ends Without Answers on Racist Photo
(about 2 hours later)
A nearly four-month inquiry into a racist photograph on the medical school yearbook page of Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia was unable to determine whether the governor was in the image, deepening a mystery that threw the state government into chaos in early February.A nearly four-month inquiry into a racist photograph on the medical school yearbook page of Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia was unable to determine whether the governor was in the image, deepening a mystery that threw the state government into chaos in early February.
In a 55-page report commissioned by Eastern Virginia Medical School, where the governor earned his medical degree in 1984, outside lawyers wrote that they “could not conclusively determine the identity of either individual depicted in the photograph,” which showed one man dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe and another in blackface.In a 55-page report commissioned by Eastern Virginia Medical School, where the governor earned his medical degree in 1984, outside lawyers wrote that they “could not conclusively determine the identity of either individual depicted in the photograph,” which showed one man dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe and another in blackface.
But the investigation also found no evidence that the photograph had been mistakenly published in a yearbook section with Mr. Northam’s name and other pictures of him alone, concluding that they had “identified no information that the photograph was placed on Governor Northam’s personal page in error or by any other means not at his direction.” The investigators, including a former state attorney general, noted, though, that they could not confirm “the origin” of the image. And the investigators were also unable to say where the photograph came from or how it ended up in a yearbook section with Mr. Northam’s name and other pictures of him alone. They added, though, that they had “identified no information that the photograph was placed on Governor Northam’s personal page in error or by any other means not at his direction.”
Mr. Northam, a Democrat whose career and power grew imperiled after the revelation of the photo, spoke with investigators twice and told them that he was “positive” he was not in the photograph.Mr. Northam, a Democrat whose career and power grew imperiled after the revelation of the photo, spoke with investigators twice and told them that he was “positive” he was not in the photograph.
On Wednesday, he again denied that he was in the “racist and offensive photo that appears under my name.”
The investigation, conducted by a law firm with close ties to Virginia’s most powerful figures, faced some skepticism on Wednesday.
James Boyd, the president of the Portsmouth chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., said he had “zero trust” in the inquiry and believed that it had been improperly tilted toward Mr. Northam. The firm, he said at the news conference where Eastern Virginia announced the results of the investigation, seemed to be “attorneys for Ralph.”
The lawyers defended the scope of their inquiry, which included interviews with 52 witnesses, and their findings.
“You can always say we could have interviewed one more, two more, three more, but we interviewed a very representative sample that we felt was a valid sample,” said Richard Cullen, a former state attorney general.
Wednesday’s report was the latest marker in a head-spinning sequence of events that began in early February. Today, every statewide public official who came under scrutiny in a cascading series of scandals — Mr. Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax and Attorney General Mark R. Herring, all of them Democrats — remains in power.Wednesday’s report was the latest marker in a head-spinning sequence of events that began in early February. Today, every statewide public official who came under scrutiny in a cascading series of scandals — Mr. Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax and Attorney General Mark R. Herring, all of them Democrats — remains in power.
[“It just went poof.” How Virginia’s leaders withstood the push for them to resign.][“It just went poof.” How Virginia’s leaders withstood the push for them to resign.]
But it was the yearbook photograph on Mr. Northam’s page that kicked off the political crisis. Within hours of its disclosure, Mr. Northam said he was “deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now.”But it was the yearbook photograph on Mr. Northam’s page that kicked off the political crisis. Within hours of its disclosure, Mr. Northam said he was “deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now.”
Mr. Northam told investigators that aides had drafted his response and that he had “nothing to do with writing the statement other than reading it over and saying O.K.”Mr. Northam told investigators that aides had drafted his response and that he had “nothing to do with writing the statement other than reading it over and saying O.K.”
“I wanted to take responsibility for a picture being on my yearbook page and — I hate to say this because I’ve been in the Army and taken care of dying children — but I was shocked,” the governor said, according to the report. “It hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t think through it.”“I wanted to take responsibility for a picture being on my yearbook page and — I hate to say this because I’ve been in the Army and taken care of dying children — but I was shocked,” the governor said, according to the report. “It hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t think through it.”
The strategy backfired, and he faced a rising swell of demands for his resignation after his apparent confession. The next day he retracted his admission, declaring, “It was definitely not me.”The strategy backfired, and he faced a rising swell of demands for his resignation after his apparent confession. The next day he retracted his admission, declaring, “It was definitely not me.”
The reversal did not eliminate the firestorm that had come to surround Mr. Northam. Instead, the pressure intensified, and within days the turmoil spread beyond the governor’s office: Mr. Fairfax faced allegations of sexual assault, which he denied, and Mr. Herring admitted to wearing blackface when he was an undergraduate student. “I know and understand the events of early February and my response to them have caused hurt for many Virginians and for that, I am sorry,” Mr. Northam said in a statement after the report’s release on Wednesday. “I felt it was important to take accountability for the photo’s presence on my page, but rather than providing clarity, I instead deepened pain and confusion.”
Indeed, the reversal did not eliminate the firestorm that had come to surround Mr. Northam. Instead, the pressure intensified, and within days the turmoil spread beyond the governor’s office: Mr. Fairfax faced allegations of sexual assault, which he denied, and Mr. Herring admitted to wearing blackface when he was an undergraduate student.
With Mr. Fairfax and Mr. Herring under siege, the clamor that surrounded Mr. Northam, who met with black leaders in private and saw a planned rehabilitation tour provoke opposition, slowly faded. The expectation in Richmond, the Virginia capital, is increasingly that Mr. Northam will serve out the rest of his term, which expires in 2022. He cannot seek re-election.With Mr. Fairfax and Mr. Herring under siege, the clamor that surrounded Mr. Northam, who met with black leaders in private and saw a planned rehabilitation tour provoke opposition, slowly faded. The expectation in Richmond, the Virginia capital, is increasingly that Mr. Northam will serve out the rest of his term, which expires in 2022. He cannot seek re-election.
While Mr. Northam tried to hold onto power, his alma mater conducted the review that was publicly detailed on Wednesday. Its yearbooks, which journalists tore through in the days after the scandal erupted, showed Ku Klux Klan and Confederate attire. The 1984 yearbook, the publication that featured Mr. Northam, included at least two other images of blackface.While Mr. Northam tried to hold onto power, his alma mater conducted the review that was publicly detailed on Wednesday. Its yearbooks, which journalists tore through in the days after the scandal erupted, showed Ku Klux Klan and Confederate attire. The 1984 yearbook, the publication that featured Mr. Northam, included at least two other images of blackface.
After Eastern Virginia, Mr. Northam spent eight years as a military doctor — during which time, he acknowledged, he darkened his face as part of a Michael Jackson costume.After Eastern Virginia, Mr. Northam spent eight years as a military doctor — during which time, he acknowledged, he darkened his face as part of a Michael Jackson costume.
“I look back now and regret that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that,” he said in February.“I look back now and regret that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that,” he said in February.