Virginia’s new Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, has fired a University of Virginia lawyer who was on leave to help lead the House investigation into Jan. 6.
Tim Heaphy, a former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia who conducted an independent investigation of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 before he was chosen to serve as counsel for the University of Virginia in 2018, was fired last week when Miyares took office, the AG’s spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita told The Washington Post.
LaCivita said Heaphy’s firing has nothing to do with his investigative work with the House Jan. 6 committee. She claimed he was a “controversial” hire and the decision to fire him was made “after reviewing the legal decisions made over the last couple of years.”
“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 said.
George Mason University’s Brian Walther was fired as well, according to LaCivita.
She did not provide an explanation why Walther was fired, neither would she confirm whether any other counsels at any of Virginia’s other public colleges and universities had been fired.
The Post noted that both Heaphy and Walther are Democrats.
Heaphy, a UVA graduate said in a statement that it has been “a tremendous honor and privilege” to serve as the school’s counsel.
Walther referred questions about his firing to George Mason, which said “the Mason community is grateful to Brian for his work and his many years of service.”
