Conservative Senator Dick Black Condemns Delgaudio Witch Hunt
Senator Richard Black joined a four time Pulitzer Prize nominated author, George Archibald, in
decrying the one sided news converage and assault on conservative Eugene Delgaudio.
Senator Black said, in part,
"Political witch hunts are not new in Loudoun County politics. This (attack on Delgaudio) is reminiscent of headlines that dominated 2007 campaigns and captivated local media regarding a rumored FBI investigation against Republican supervisors.
The FBI does not comment on investigations so supervisors could not clear their name before election day. Soon after the election was over, the headlines conveniently disappeared, no charges were ever filed and several Republican supervisors lost their re-election bids."
Senator Richard Black's full statement follows:
JUDGE DISMISSES CASE AGAINST SUPERVISOR DELGAUDIO
EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENT BY PROSECUTOR
After nearly two years of investigations and wasted taxpayer money, Judge Sheridan dismissed the case against Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio. The four-term Republican supervisor from Sterling is known as an outspoken social conservative and had been accused of using his county staff to raise funds for his political campaign.
Strong words were issued by the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, Theo Stamos, who said, "Two years, hundreds of hours, and thousands of dollars have been expended investigating this matter. A much better use of petitioners' time...might well be to identify and recruit a candidate from Sterling to run against Mr. Delgaudio in the next election." The extraordinary statement was made after it became clear that the case was nothing more than an attempt to use the court system to do what the Democrats could not achieve at the ballot box.
A criminal grand jury last year declined to indict Supervisor Delgaudio, but a group of county Democrats sought his ouster under a rarely used law allowing for removal of elected officials for "neglect of duty, misuse of office, or incompetence in the performance of duties."
According to Attorney Charles L. King, the woman at the center of the allegations, "perjured herself before the Special Grand Jury in her deposition." Just how much taxpayer money was wasted on the two year investigation, in an already overburdened legal system, is unclear at this time.
Political witch hunts are not new in Loudoun County politics. This is reminiscent of headlines that dominated 2007 campaigns and captivated local media regarding a rumored FBI investigation against Republican supervisors. The FBI does not comment on investigations so supervisors could not clear their name before election day. Soon after the election was over, the headlines conveniently disappeared, no charges were ever filed and several Republican supervisors lost their re-election bids.