Video of Lt. Gov. Phil Scott’s comments by Erin Mansfield.
Editor’s note: VTDigger’s Erin Mansfield, Anne Galloway and Tom Brown contributed to this story. Updated at 5:35 p.m. May 11 and 8:29 a.m. May 12.
Gov. Peter Shumlin on Monday said a state senator accused of sexual assault should resign, and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott said he was told that Sen. Norm McAllister, R-Franklin, intends to do so within 24 hours.
McAllister disputed Scott’s statement Monday, saying he hadn’t decided whether to resign.
“I’m going to meet with my attorney tomorrow (Tuesday), and do what he tells me,” McAllister said.
McAllister was arrested at the Statehouse on Thursday and pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of felony sexual assault and three counts of prohibited acts, a misdemeanor.
“Given the incredibly troubling allegations made against Sen. McAllister over the past few days, the right thing for him to do would be to resign from the Senate,” Shumlin said in a statement. “Sen. McAllister will go through the legal process like any other accused individual, but for the good of Vermont he should not do so as a sitting senator.”
Scott said he received word at 7:30 a.m. Monday that McAllister would resign. The state senator had decided on his own that he wanted to resign from the Senate, Scott said, and would submit a letter of resignation to his office within 24 hours. McAllister told Scott he needed time for his attorney to review the letter. Scott serves as both lieutenant governor and Senate president.
“I believe that Sen. McAllister is doing the right thing at this time by stepping down,” Scott said. “People in Franklin County deserve a legislator who can give them his full attention, and I don’t think he is able to do that at this point in time.”
Scott called the allegations “surprising” and “difficult.”
McAllister said Scott’s interpretation stemmed from a “misunderstanding.”
Shumlin’s top aide said the governor’s call for McAllister’s resignation was not a rush to judgment.
Liz Miller, Shumlin’s chief of staff, said McAllister will get his day in court but “whether he should put the institution through that is a different question.”
According to court records, two women accused McAllister of repeated sexual assault in exchange for jobs and shelter and McAllister attempted to solicit sex-for-rent from a third woman.
Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, D-Windsor, and House Speaker Shap Smith also called for McAllister’s resignation Monday. A spokesman for Smith said the revelations would make it difficult for McAllister to represent his constituents in Franklin County and the state.
“The allegations against Senator McAllister are extremely disturbing,” Campbell said in a statement. “Clearly he cannot continue to serve his county or the state under these circumstances. Therefore, I believe that he should resign immediately. Our thoughts continue to be focused on the well-being of the victims associated with this case.”
Smith said McAllister’s arrest and the ensuing allegations have “cast a pall over the Statehouse.”
“I think people are very troubled by the allegations and are worried about the victims of the alleged assaults,” Smith said. “They are struggling to reconcile the allegations with the person that they thought they knew.”
Scott said he was in a state of disbelief until he read the affidavit over the weekend. “I feel for the alleged victims,” he said. “This sort of things happens you never want to believe it happens.”
The circumstances around the alleged sexual assault of a 20-year-old intern who worked for McAllister are particularly troubling and problematic for state leaders, Scott said.
“We are put in the forum of being trusted,” Scott said. “We’re statewide leaders, and we ask interns to assist us and also for us to assist them in experience and education under a certain level of trust and this seems to be a violation of that trust.”
