After 3 years and 4 indictments, investigation into Scott Taylor petition scandal isn’t over yet

It’s been nearly three years since the investigation into suspicious petition signatures submitted by several members of former U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor’s campaign staff began.

Four indictments and three guilty pleas later, it’s still ongoing, according to the special prosecutor assigned to the case.

“Every time we indict someone we learn a little bit more,” Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John Beamer said in explaining why the case has gone on for so long. “It’s just been a slow process of going one person at a time.”

Beamer said he didn’t know how much longer the investigation would last. He declined to comment further.

The first indictment in the case was handed down in May 2019 against a lower-level member of Taylor’s campaign staff.

The fourth came last week when Taylor’s former political consultant, Robert J. “Rob” Catron, was charged with 10 felony counts of making false statements and election fraud. Catron now works as a lobbyist for Alcalde & Fay, a well-established government and public affairs firm in Arlington.

The investigation began in the summer of 2018, shortly after reports that members of Taylor’s campaign staff had submitted forged signatures in an effort to get a spoiler candidate on the ballot.

Taylor, a Republican, was in a tight race against Democratic challenger Elaine Luria at the time. He and his advisors decided to help independent candidate Shaun Brown get on the ballot by circulating petitions on her behalf. The move was believed to have been made in an effort to siphon votes from Luria.

Taylor, who lost to Luria in 2018 and again in 2020, has said he was aware his staff was collecting signatures for Brown, but has denied knowing anything about forged ones.

“The record is clear that when their actions came to light, Scott Taylor acted swiftly to oust the rogue employees that may have violated the people’s trust — and he called on law enforcement to hold them accountable,” attorney Diane Toscano said Monday in an email on his behalf. “Scott Taylor served this community and his country with distinction and integrity as a U.S. Navy SEAL, in the Virginia House of Delegates, and the United States Congress. The actions of a few rogue employees do not change his accomplishments.”

Public radio station WHRO was the first to report it found five fraudulent signatures on the petitions submitted by Taylor workers. The Virginian-Pilot then did its own investigation and found 59 people who said their signature had been forged. The Pilot also confirmed four people named on the petitions were dead.

The Roanoke commonwealth’s attorney’s office was asked to investigate after Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle recused himself. Stolle’s brother, Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle, had signed one of the petitions and some of his staff had been circulating the documents at the sheriff’s office.

Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com