The Democratic candidate in Virginia’s competitive House district denounced reports that she and her husband engaged in sexual acts on a pornographic live-streaming site, calling sharing those videos “the worst of the worst politics.”
The existence of the sexually explicit videos, first reported by The Washington Post on Monday, has introduced a highly sensitive issue into one of the most competitive races in this fall’s battle for control of the Virginia General Assembly.
Screenshots of Susanna Gibson on the site were shared with the Associated Press. The campaign of Gibson, a Democrat running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in a district outside Richmond, issued a statement on Monday denouncing the sharing of the videos as a violation of the law and her privacy. Gibson described showing the videos as “the worst gutter policy”.
“He will not intimidate me or silence me,” she said in the statement. “My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they are willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there is no line they will not cross to silence women when they speak out.”
The videos were first broadcast live on a non-password-protected website, and The Post reported that the couple had more than 5,700 followers. Gibson’s attorney, Daniel P. Watkins, said sharing the videos violates the state’s revenge porn law.
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“Capturing and posting this content without permission is illegal recording and clearly violates Virginia’s revenge porn law. We are working closely with law enforcement to hold wrongdoers accountable,” he told CNN in an email.
“This is an unlawful invasion of my privacy intended to humiliate me and my family. It will not intimidate or silence me,” Gibson said in a statement shared with CNN on Tuesday.
“My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they are willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there is no line they will not cross to silence women when they speak out,” she said. “They are trying to silence me because they want to silence you, and I will not allow that.”
“My opponent and his allies know that the people of this district are on our side on these issues, so they are stooping to the worst of gutter politics,” she added. “ There is too much at stake in this election and I will never stop fighting for our community.”
