Did AG Miyares Investigate LG Earle-Sears for Ethics Law Violations?
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares' (R) Office claims it has no records concerning an ethics investigation apparently required by law. Its own legal filing suggests otherwise.
As I reported last month, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ (R) Office notified me that they are representing Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R) in my lawsuit alleging violations of Virginia FOIA and ethics laws.
As I emphasized in that article:
Now that it’s clear Attorney General Jason Miyares' Office is representing Earle-Sears, I’m trying to find out if the AG’s Office has investigated this matter yet independently of my lawsuit. Remember, Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(1) states in part that the AG:
…shall investigate matters that come to his attention reflecting possible violations of the provisions of this chapter by officers and employees serving at the state level of government;
And Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(2) makes clear that:
If he determines that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that any officer or employee serving at the state level of government has knowingly violated any provision of this chapter, he shall designate an attorney for the Commonwealth who shall have complete and independent discretion in the prosecution of such officer or employee…
If the AG’s Office hasn’t investigated this situation yet as the law requires, there seems to be a conflict of interest with that Office representing Earle-Sears in my case, a concern I relayed to Mr. Vaughan yesterday.
When I find out whether or not an investigation has taken place, I’ll report back.
On June 14, 2025, I responded to Assistant Attorney General R. Cooper Vaughan by email and asked him:
Has the AG investigated this matter as required by Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(1), since it's clearly come to his attention at this point given his office is representing the Defendant? If so, has he come to any determination or taken any action as described in Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(2)? If no such investigation has been completed, it seems to me the OAG has a conflict of interest in representing the Defendant.
Although Assistant AG Vaughan sent me several emails since I asked those questions, he didn’t answer either of them.
And on June 21, 2025, I sent a FOIA request to the official FOIA email address of the Attorney General’s Office, requesting:
(1) All records concerning any investigation under Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(1) of Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears;
(2) All records containing any determination under Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(2) concerning Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.
On June 28, 2025, after five full working days (seven days total) had passed, I contacted Assistant AG Vaughan to inform him that I hadn’t yet received a response.
Finally, on June 30, 2025, the Attorney General’s Office responded to my FOIA request:
“This Office has no records responsive to your request.”
If they have “no records” concerning any investigation under Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(1) of Earle-Sears or containing any determination under Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(2) concerning Earle-Sears, it stands to reason that no such investigation has occurred and no determination has been made.
Remember that Va. Code § 2.2-3126(A)(1) states that the Attorney General “shall investigate matters that come to his attention reflecting possible violations of the provisions of this chapter by officers and employees serving at the state level of government.” [Emphasis added].
In a confusing turn of events, yesterday the AG’s Office filed “The Lieutenant Governor’s Responsive Pleadings” in my case, a pleading that includes a plea in bar of sovereign immunity, a motion to dismiss, a demurrer, and a curious statement on the first page:
“The Complaint fails on the facts and on the law. The Lieutenant Governor has fully complied with the Conflicts of Interests Act, and so Plaintiff does not and could not state facts alleging a violation. Moreover, the Act is enforced by the Attorney General and local Commonwealth’s Attorneys, not by private citizens.”
[Emphasis added].
You can download this filing here:
So here we have the AG’s Office, in a filing in Richmond Circuit Court, stating conclusively as a matter of fact: “The Lieutenant Governor has fully complied with the Conflicts of Interests Act…”
Yet in response to my FOIA request, they have “no records” suggesting they ever conducted an investigation as required by law or made a determination on this matter — including a determination that Earle-Sears had fully complied with the law.
I don’t quite know what to make of this, but after reading through the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct last night, I’m even more convinced there’s a conflict of interest inherent in the AG’s Office representing Earle-Sears here.
So, over this Independence Day weekend, I’ll draft my motion to disqualify the Attorney General’s Office as counsel for Earle-Sears due to an apparent conflict of interest. And this motion, indeed this entire lawsuit, remains motivated by an insistence that Virginia’s ethics laws be enforced independent of partisanship, political alliance, or mutual protection.