Jay Jones' transition team to be co-led by ex-governor from blackface scandal, abortion outrage

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Scandal-plagued Virginia Attorney General-elect Jay Jones announced his transition team late Thursday, naming former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam to help lead it.

Northam's term, which preceded outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin's, was enveloped in scandal in 2019 after the right-leaning news site Big League Politics released the governor's page from the 1984 edition of the Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook that depicted a person wearing blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan hood.

Northam, previously a pediatrician from Onancock, Virginia, was announced as the topline co-chair by Jones' campaign on Thursday.

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Other members of Jones' transition team include Pamela Northam, former Virginia Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Hudson and former Obama judicial appointee Timothy Heaphy - who served as chief investigative counsel for the House January 6 Select Committee.

Jones' team also includes two elected-Democrat law enforcement officials - the top prosecutor for the city of Richmond and Sheriff Gabe Morgan of Newport News.

In a statement, Jones' campaign said everyone co-chairing his transition are "distinguished and experienced leaders in the Commonwealth."

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"They share a commitment to public safety, public service, and the well-being of all Virginians. The transition team will work with Attorney General-Elect Jones as he prepares to take office so he can keep our communities safe, protect Virginia jobs, and defend our fundamental rights," the statement said.

After the blackface scandal broke, Northam faced mounting calls to resign the governorship.

He initially apologized for "the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo" and said such "behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in the military, in medicine, and in public service."

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However, he later edited his initial recounting, claiming he believed never to have worn a KKK outfit or had "been drunk enough to forget a moment like this."

Northam then admitted to reporters he once darkened his face to look like Michael Jackson.

"The reason I used a very little bit is because I don't know if anybody's ever tried that -- but you cannot get shoe polish off," he said.

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The Democrat then gestured as if to begin the "Moonwalk" after being asked if he could still dance like the late pop star, but halted after an angry glance from then-first lady Pamela Northam.

Libertarian magazine Reason called the apparent pivot in recollection "bizarre."

Northam also made headlines during a WTOP radio interview in which he envisioned a case where a baby could be "kept comfortable" during a third-trimester abortion when the mother is already in labor, until physicians and parents could have a "discussion." 

President Donald Trump called the comments evidence that Democrats like Northam are open to "killing babies after birth… execut[ing] the baby."