A former newspaper reporter in Loudoun County is accusing Commonwealth's Attorney James E. Plowman of leaking him damaging information about a former state Senate candidate charged with election fraud -- fraud charges initiated by Plowman's office.Charles Jackson, who left the weekly Leesburg Today last month, says in a sworn affidavit that Plowman told him that the former candidate, Mark D. Tate, was "absolutely a criminal" two months before Tate was indicted. The prosecutor accused Tate of writing campaign checks to himself, disclosed details about Tate's personal financial problems and encouraged Jackson to write a negative article about him, Jackson's affidavit says.
That sure sounds bad, and it would be great to hear what Holtzman Vogel and Plowman had to say in their defense. For whatever reason, however, they're not returning phone calls. Perhaps voters in Loudoun County should demand answers from Holtzman Vogel about this scandal. Or, they could just vote for Karen Schultz, an educator, community leader and church Elder who will make the 27th district proud.