University {of Virginia} Counsel Tim Heaphy removed by Attorney General Jason Miyares

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Cavalier Daily

News

University Counsel Tim Heaphy removed by Attorney General Jason Miyares

Heaphy's removal continues a multitude of firings this week by the attorney general

By Lauren O'Neil
January 23, 2022

University Counsel Tim Heaphy was removed from his role by Attorney General Jason Miyares, per a statement issued by the University Saturday. ending a three-year tenure. Most recently, Heaphy had been on a leave of absence from the University working as the chief investigative counsel for the Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

{snip}

"As a two-time graduate of the University, the parent of a current student and a longtime resident of Charlottesville, I love the University and have been privileged to contribute to its aspiration to be both great and good," Heaphy wrote. "While I'm disappointed that my time as University Counsel has come to an end, I'm confident that the office will continue to provide quality service as the University continues to thrive in the days to come."

Attorneys in the Office of University Counsel serve the attorney general. Miyares' recent inauguration began an onslaught of over 30 firings within just over a week -- these firings included the entire conviction integrity unit, a group of individuals that oversees the investigation of wrongful convictions.

An alumnus of both the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Law, Heaphy was hired following his leadership on a critical review of local law enforcement responses to the "Unite the Right" rally in 2017.

Read more: https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2022/01/university-counsel-tim-heaphy-removed-by-attorney-general-jason-miyares

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There is a thread about this in GD, but this is a news source for the story.

Hat tip, lowkell

VA's New Hard-Right AG *Fires* UVA Counsel Who *Coincidentally* Is Counsel for 1/6 Committee!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216278955

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The Cavalier Daily Retweeted

https://twitter.com/cavalierdaily

VA Attorney General Miyares removed University Counsel Tim Heaphy, per University statement Saturday. Heaphy's is one of over 30 recent firings, including multiple Office of Civil Rights attorneys and the entire Conviction Integrity Unit. https://cavalierdaily.com/article/2022/01/university-counsel-tim-heaphy-removed-by-attorney-general-jason-miyares
@cavalierdaily

Link to tweet

[Lonestarblue]

1. So Youngkin is purging anyone who doesn't support Trump.

He’ll be turning Virginia back into the backward state it used to be. We all know public education will suffer as right-wing parents demand that schools teach nothing but Tucker Carlson’s history lessons.

[Martin68]

2. That's right. the spoils system an a scorched earth Trumpist agenda is being implemented by Youngkin

and his cronies.

[Eugene]

12. It's much worse than that. See reply #11.

Tim Heaphy was on leave, serving as the top investigator for the Jan. 6 panel.

Va.’s new attorney general fires U-Va. counsel who was on leave working as top investigator for Jan. 6 panel (Washington Post)

https://wapo.st/3rIYZPF

Original WaPo link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/23/heaphy-uva-miyares-removal/

[czarjak]

3. Heck-of-a-Job, Virginia.

[intheflow]

4. I can smell the lawsuits forming. n/t

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. I can't.

Attorneys in the Office of University Counsel serve the attorney general.

[AZLD4Candidate]

6. Aren't political purges wonderful?

[TygrBright]

7. They've never heard "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"...

All the people they have fired now have nothing to lose, and have been turned loose with knowledge, experience, and connections that make them quite dangerous.

Never interrupt yer adversaries when they're conducting a circular firing squad...

interestedly,
Bright

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. UVA's Heaphy Named Top Investigator for Select Committee on Jan. 6 Capitol Attack

He was on a leave of absence.

UVA’s Heaphy Named Top Investigator for Select Committee on Jan. 6 Capitol Attack



Timothy J. Heaphy, who investigated the August 2017 Unite the Right rally, will take leave from his post as University counsel to lead the probe into the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. (Contributed photo)

August 12, 2021 McGregor McCance, [e-mail]

Timothy J. Heaphy, counsel and senior assistant attorney general at the University of Virginia, has been appointed to serve as chief investigative counsel for the congressional Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack on the United States Capitol. ... U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Mississippi, chair of the Select Committee, announced Heaphy’s selection Thursday.

“It’s good news for the Select Committee and for the American people that Mr. Heaphy has agreed to come on board as our top investigator,” Thompson said in a statement issued by his office. “Mr. Heaphy is a committed public servant with deep experience tackling complex and high-profile challenges. The Committee will need his expertise as we push ahead quickly on a number of fronts. I’m grateful for his willingness to support the Committee’s work getting answers about Jan. 6 and protecting our democracy.”

Heaphy will take a leave of absence from his UVA position while serving in his new role. ... Heaphy was named UVA counsel and senior assistant attorney general in 2018. Attorneys in the Office of University Counsel are appointed by the attorney general of Virginia and represent the University on legal matters affecting University operations and interests. He is a former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, appointed by President Obama in 2009 and serving through 2014. Before joining the University, as a partner at the law firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth, Heaphy conducted a comprehensive independent review of the August 11-12, 2017 mass demonstration events at the University and in Charlottesville for the City of Charlottesville.

Heaphy, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UVA and a law degree from the UVA School of Law, said he is honored to accept the role and eager to pursue answers about Jan. 6.

{snip}

MEDIA CONTACT

Brian Coy

[e-mail] 703-477-8222

LinkedIn profile

[crickets]

9. So, how does an AG fire a University Counsel?

I guess since UVA is a state school, he can, but... really? He has such time for that level of retribution? As top legal advisor for the state, he's definitely setting a politically off tone. With gusto.

Also, what an asshole.

[Claire Oh Nette]

10. How long till teachers are wrongfully convicted for doing their jobs?

"these firings included the entire conviction integrity unit, a group of individuals that oversees the investigation of wrongful convictions."

Fascists.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. Virginia's new AG fires U-Va. counsel who was on leave working as top investigator for Jan. 6 panel

Va.'s new attorney general fires U-Va. counsel who was on leave working as top investigator for Jan. 6 panel

Link to tweet

Virginia Politics

Va.’s new attorney general fires U-Va. counsel who was on leave working as top investigator for Jan. 6 panel

By Justin Jouvenal and Lauren Lumpkin
Today at 1:54 p.m. EST | Updated today at 5:29 p.m. EST

Virginia’s new Republican attorney general has fired University of Virginia’s counsel, who was on leave from the job to work as the top investigator for U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, the attorney and university said. ... Tim Heaphy, who had worked at the state’s flagship university for about three years, was among roughly 30 staffers {who}* were let go by Jason S. Miyares shortly before he took office a little over a week ago. Democrats have questioned the firings and how they were carried out.

Victoria LaCivita, a Miyares spokeswoman, said the attorney general’s office had also fired the counsel for George Mason University, Brian Walther, saying it is common for an incoming attorney general to appoint counsel that shares its “philosophy and legal approach.” ... Both Heaphy and Walther are Democrats. ... LaCivita declined to say whether any other counsels at Virginia’s more than three dozen public colleges and universities had been let go.

LaCivita said in a statement that Heaphy was a “controversial” hire and Miyares’s Democratic predecessor, Mark Herring, had “excluded many qualified internal candidates when he brought in this particular university counsel.” ... “Our decision was made after reviewing the legal decisions made over the last couple of years,” LaCivita said. “The Attorney General wants the university counsel to return to giving legal advice based on law, and not the philosophy of a university. We plan to look internally first for the next lead counsel.” ... LaCivita declined to say what legal decisions she was referencing. LaCivita said Heaphy’s firing had nothing to do with his work on the Jan. 6 panel.

{snip}

Heaphy was hired by the university in 2018. The hiring came after he conducted an independent investigation of the infamous “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 that left one protester dead and dozens others injured. He was previously appointed as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia by President Barack Obama. ... Heaphy was the university’s counsel as the campus sorted through the legal issues that came with introducing a coronavirus vaccine mandate. Officials ultimately decided they had the legal authority to enforce vaccines, with some exceptions, and introduced a requirement for students in May.

{snip}

Walther, formerly of George Mason, referred questions about his firing to the university’s communications department, which directed questions to Miyares’s office. The university did say in a statement that Walther had been a member of the George Mason community for 22 years and served as counsel since 2017. The university introduced a vaccine requirement for students and employees in July.

{snip}

By Justin Jouvenal
Justin Jouvenal covers courts and policing in Fairfax County and across the nation. He joined The Post in 2009. Twitter https://twitter.com/jjouvenal

By Lauren Lumpkin
Lauren Lumpkin is a reporter at The Washington Post covering local colleges and universities. Twitter https://twitter.com/laurenmlumpkin

* "whom were let go"? Really?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. NYT: Top Jan. 6 Investigator Fired From Post at the University of Virginia

Kevin M. Kruse Retweeted

The first Republicans with the power to engage in professional retribution against participants in the January 6 investigation waste no time.

Link to tweet

Top Jan. 6 Investigator Fired From Post at the University of Virginia
Democrats in Virginia denounced the action as a partisan move aimed at helping former President Donald J. Trump undercut the investigation of the Capitol riot.

MinorIncursionHat Retweeted

Autocracy looms.

In one of his 1st moves in office, Va.'s new Republican AG reached down into the state's university system and fired the top lawyer at UVA -- a lawyer who went on leave from the school last year to be the top investigator on the Jan. 6 committee https://nytimes.com/2022/01/23/us/politics/jan-6-investigator-fired-university-of-virginia.html

Link to tweet