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Virginia Republicans Ambush Inspector General

Office of the Inspector General

Republicans in the state House launched a surprise attack on the governor and his political allies Wednesday.  As Sandy Hausman reports, they seized on a tragic episode at a local jail to attack one of Terry McAuliffe’s appointees.

You may have heard about Jamycheal Mitchell, a 24-year-old man who was arrested for stealing about five dollars worth of snacks from a convenience store.  The Hampton Roads Regional Jail realized he was mentally ill and asked that he be transferred to a state hospital, but the hospital lost the paperwork, and Republican Delegate Rob Bell told the House that Mitchell – who had stopped eating -- died 101 days later.

“Nothing we do here can bring him back," Bell told the House of Delegates, "but the family, law enforcement, everyone involved in the mental health system wanted to know why this sick young man died in our care, naked, in a cell smeared with feces under the watch of both the jail and the mental health professionals hired by the jail to keep an eye on him.  How could this possibly happen.”

Bell blamed Inspector General June Jennings, a seasoned state employee who did a limited investigation.  She said she was not attempting to find out who was responsible but – rather – to focus on system errors.

The Democrats’ leader, David Toscano, said he learned of the plan to reject the governor’s re-appointment of  Jennings twenty minutes before Bell made his motion, and he thought it unfair to in essence fire someone without giving her a chance to defend herself.

“What happened was outrageous, tragic and should never happen in a local jail," Toscano said, "but the office of inspector general does not generally have jurisdiction over local jails.”

He urged fellow delegates to slow down – to get the facts before taking vote.

“A lot of us really don’t know everything that happened, and we don’t know everything that the office of the inspector general could or could not do, but I can tell you this.  This is a very complicated issue,” he said.

Complicated, perhaps, because the U.S. Justice Department is investigating, and Mitchell’s family is suing for $60 million. The law says Virginia’s inspector general should investigate the management and operation of agencies and their independent contractors to determine whether acts of fraud, waste, abuse or corruption have been committed, so it’s not clear what liability the state may have, but Republican Steve Landes pressed ahead with efforts to unseat Jennings.  Toscano tried to question him – to point out that Jennings had been approved by the senate and by a house committee designated to review her appointment, but Landes would not be stopped.

“This person did not perform their job," Landes argued, " and it’s up to us to decide whether that person moves forward or not.  Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield for a question?  Not yield.  The gentleman does not.”

The House voted 65 to 34 to reject Jennings’ appointment. Afterward, Governor McAuliffe expressed outrage, insisting Jennings had no responsibility for the Mitchell case.