Current:Home > FinanceLast remaining charge dropped against Virginia elections official -FundGuru
Last remaining charge dropped against Virginia elections official
View
Date:2025-04-13 09:36:56
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped the last remaining charge against a northern Virginia elections official who had been accused of misconduct related to the 2020 elections.
A judge on Monday formally dismissed a misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty against Michele White, the former registrar in Prince William County, a suburb outside the nation’s capital, after prosecutors requested the dismissal.
The most serious charges against White had already been dismissed. The Virginia Attorney General’s Office said it was forced to drop felony charges of corrupt conduct and making a false statement because a key witness had revised their testimony.
White was indicted back in 2022, and the office of Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares never spelled out publicly or in court papers exactly what it alleged White did wrong. Court records indicated only generally that the allegations had to do with 2020 election results, and county officials said back when White was indicted only that the alleged discrepancies in vote totals would not have affected the outcome of any race.
Assistant Attorney General James Herring declined comment on the case after Monday’s hearing.
White’s attorney, Zachary Stafford, said after the dismissal that the government’s case amounted to a hodgepodge of complaints “and the underlying theme was that Ms. White was bad at her job.”
He said the allegations ranged from trivial — that she moved her office to a different building — to a serious allegation that she reported incorrect results in the presidential race from the county’s central absentee precinct. Stafford said that allegation “was subsequently disproven by a Commonwealth witness.”
“(T)he evidence is clear that Ms. White did not commit any crimes during her tenure as Registrar in Prince William County, and the Attorney General’s office wisely dropped the charges,” Stafford said in a written statement. “This process has been traumatic for Ms. White, and today’s dismissal is just the first step towards recovering from that trauma. Ms. White was a dedicated public servant, and the evidence shows that she conducted an accurate election in 2020.”
The case against White is the only criminal prosecution brought thus far by a special Election Integrity Unit Miyares formed in 2022, with as many as 20 lawyers assigned to the unit.
“I pledged during the 2021 campaign to work to increase transparency and strengthen confidence in our state elections. It should be easy to vote, and hard to cheat. The Election Integrity Unit will work to help to restore confidence in our democratic process in the Commonwealth,” Miyares said when the unit was formed.
In White’s case, prosecutors insinuated that the case fell apart because a witness in the county’s elections office “conveniently” changed their testimony to the detriment of the government’s case.
At Monday’s hearing, Judge Carroll Weimer asked if the government was implying that there were “shenanigans” that caused the government’s case to collapse.
Herring maintained that he considered some of the witnesses’ revisions to their testimony “convenient” but said that he had no reason to believe that White was responsible for those revisions.
White’s attorney disputes that the witness’ testimony was inconsistent.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Should the Fed relax its 2% inflation goal and cut interest rates? Yes, some experts say.
- Amal Clooney is one of the legal experts who recommended war crimes charges in Israel-Hamas war
- Pro-Palestinian protesters at Drexel ignore call to disband as arrests nationwide approach 3,000
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Kanye West, Billie Eilish and the Beatles highlight Apple Music 100 Best Albums Nos. 30-21
- 'American Idol' judges reveal must-haves for Katy Perry's replacement after season finale
- Xander Schauffele's first major makes a satisfying finish to a bizarre PGA Championship
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Push to enforce occupancy rule in College Station highlights Texas A&M students’ housing woes
Ranking
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- 16 family members hit by same car, 2 dead, Michigan hit-and-run driver arrested
- Shooting injures 2 at Missouri high school graduation ceremony
- Insider Q&A: CIA’s chief technologist’s cautious embrace of generative AI
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Scottie Scheffler’s Louisville court date postponed after arrest during PGA Championship
- Xander Schauffele gets validation and records with one memorable putt at PGA Championship
- There was a fatal shooting at this year’s ‘Jeep Week’ event on Texas Gulf Coast. Here’s what to know
Recommendation
Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
Hall of Fame Oakland Raiders center Jim Otto dies at 86
Full transcript of Face the Nation, May 19, 2024
Ivan Boesky, stock trader convicted in insider trading scandal, dead at 87, according to reports
Average rate on 30
Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Maryland ban on rifles known as assault weapons
In Two New Studies, Scientists See Signs of Fundamental Climate Shifts in Antarctica
Hims & Hers says it's selling a GLP-1 weight loss drug for 85% less than Wegovy. Here's the price.