Virginia deputy attorney general resigns after social media posts praising Jan. 6 rioters surface

A deputy Virginia attorney general resigned Thursday, a state official said, after The Washington Post raised questions about social media comments the newspaper reported she made about the 2020 election, Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and other matters.

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According to The Post, Monique Miles falsely claimed Donald Trump won the election, praised the Capitol rioters as "patriots" and espoused conspiracy theories about voter fraud on Facebook. The newspaper reported it had obtained screenshots of the posts, authenticated them with people who interacted with Miles, and shared them with the office of Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares.

A spokeswoman for Miyares confirmed Miles’ resignation and said that her posts had been unknown to the office before Thursday morning.

"The Attorney General has been very clear - Joe Biden won the election and he has condemned the January 6th attack," spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The Post reported that the social media comments from Miles were not publicly visible but that Miles said they had not been deleted.

Miles, who could not immediately be reached by the AP for comment, told The Post in an email that the posts were being taken out of context and were shared in a "character assassination to stir up controversy."

"The posts were made at a time when the news was still developing re: the facts around the election, the court cases, the Rally on the Ellipse and what happened at the capitol," Miles said in the email, the Post reported. "That was before all the audits occurred. These posts have been taken out of context."

Miyares announced Miles’ hiring in January as deputy attorney general for government operations and transactions. A news release at the time said she was the founder and managing partner of a law firm in northern Virginia.

The AP left a message seeking comment from Miles at that law office and attempted to reach her by phone.

Miyares, who was elected in November, condemned the Capitol insurrection the day it occurred, calling it "a disgusting attack" against the principle of law and order.

"Ignoring orders and attacking law enforcement is never acceptable, under any circumstance," he tweeted on Jan. 6, 2021.

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The Democratic Attorneys General Association highlighted The Post’s reporting in a news release.

"Jason Miyares needs to come clean: is he lying or incompetent?" Geoff Burgan, the group’s communications director, said in a statement.