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Jerry Falwell Jr issued a statement saying his wife Becki had an affair. The leader of 1 of the most important Christian universities within the us , whose endorsement helped power Donald Trump to the presidency, has denied reports he has resigned amid personal scandals. But the university has since released a press release saying Mr Falwell had agreed to right away resign from his position but withdrew the resignation after media reports about it.
Additional matters came to light that made it clear that it might not be within the best interest of the university for [Falwell] to return from leave and function president,” the statement said. It follows a young business partner claiming he had been during a years-long relationship involving Mr Falwell and his wife, Becki Falwell.Embattled evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. agreed to resign as Liberty University’s president Monday but withdrew his resignation when media reports about the choice emerged, the university said during a statement Monday night.
The Christian school founded by Falwell Jr.‘s late father was in discussions with him about his resignation earlier Monday, a faculty spokesman told CNN. The conversations around his fate come after a series of recent public controversies about his behavior, including an affair a Miami man said he had with Falwell Jr.’s wife that went on for eight years. during a statement to CNN, Falwell Jr. acknowledged the affair.
After asking Falwell to require an indefinite leave on August 7, “additional matters came to light that made it clear that it might not be within the best interest of the University for him to return from leave and function President,” consistent with a press release from the university.
Falwell responded by agreeing to resign immediately as President of Liberty University today on the other hand instructed his attorneys to not tender the letter for immediate resignation,” consistent with the statement. Falwell Jr. told Virginia Business Monday that reports that he was resigning were completely false. His friendship with the Falwells eventually soured, Granda told Reuters, partially because he wanted to dissolve his ties with the couple and fell into a business dispute with them.
Key factor of Jerry Falwell Jr conversation.
Mr Falwell issued a statement saying his wife, Becki Falwell, had an affair with a young business partner
The business partner said the years-long sexual relationship involved both Becki and her husband
A separate incident saw Mr Falwell post, then delete a photo of himself with his pants unzipped, standing with his arm around a young woman
Granda first emerged as a figure within the Falwells’ circle two years ago, when BuzzFeed News reported that the couple had befriended Granda and gone into business with him, buying a Miami Beach hostel in 2013. At the time of the BuzzFeed article, a representative of the Falwell family said Granda was “offered a share” in Alton Hostel LLC because Granda lived in Miami and would act as a manager of the hostel . Corporate records show that Granda currently features a stake therein venture.
Becki Falwell didn’t answer emails or phone and text messages from Reuters. After Reuters presented its initial reporting early last week to the Falwells, a lawyer for Jerry Falwell, Michael Bowe, said the evangelical leader “categorically denies everything you indicated you plan to publish about him.” On Sunday night, however, as Reuters was preparing to publish this text , Jerry Falwell issued a press release to the Washington Examiner during which he said that his wife had had an affair with Granda which Granda had been trying to extort money from the couple over the matter. Granda denies any such intent, saying he was seeking to barter a buyout from a business arrangement he says he had with the couple.
“Falwell’s statement Sunday to the Examiner said nothing about Granda’s account alleging that the evangelical leader had his own role within the affair, and Falwell didn’t address questions from Reuters about it. within the statement quoted by the Examiner, Falwell said that “Becki had an inappropriate personal relation with this person, something during which i used to be not involved.”
Several hours after the Reuters article appeared, the Washington Post and other U.S. media reported that Falwell had stepped down as head of Liberty University, the Christian school he has run since 2007. But later Monday, Falwell disputed those accounts. “I haven’t resigned,” he told Politico. “I are going to be on indefinite leave.”
Liberty and Falwell didn’t answer Reuters requests for discuss his status.
Falwell, 58, had taken an indefinite leave of absence earlier this month from Liberty. That step, announced during a terse statement from the school’s board of trustees, came days after Falwell posted, then deleted, an Instagram photo of himself together with his pants unzipped, standing together with his arm around a girl whose pants were also partly undone. Falwell later told an area station that the image was meant as a good-natured joke.
If Falwell does step down, his departure from that high-profile perch would represent an interesting fall from grace for a person who has been a potent force in American conservative politics. His surprise 2016 endorsement of Donald Trump helped the twice-divorced New Yorker win the Republican nomination for president.
Becki Falwell, 53, may be a political figure in her title . She served on the planning board of the group Women for Trump, which advocates for the president’s reelection campaign. She also spoke as a part of a panel together with her husband and Donald Trump Jr eventually year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, the signature annual gathering of conservatives. Jerry Falwell et al. ask her as “the first lady of Liberty University.”
The university, based in Lynchburg, Virginia, was founded in 1971 by Falwell’s televangelist father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell. The younger Falwell took over in 2007. Today, the university boasts a web and on-campus enrollment that exceeds 100,000 students and holds those that attend to an exacting honor code. “Sexual relations outside of a biblically ordained marriage between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman aren’t permissible at Liberty University,” the code reads.
The material Granda showed Reuters includes screenshots from what Granda said was a FaceTime conversation he had with the Falwells in 2019. During that decision , Granda said, Becki was naked because the two discussed their relationship while Jerry peeked from behind a door. Reuters was ready to verify Granda’s description of the screenshots.
Granda also shared an sound recording that he says captures a conversation he had with the Falwells in 2018. In it, Becki complained about Granda describing his relationships with other people: “He’s like telling me whenever he hooks up with people. Like I don’t have feelings or something.” Jerry then chimed in: “You’re getting to make her jealous.” “I’m not trying to try to to that,” Granda replied.
Earlier texts show a friendly and romantic dynamic between Granda and Becki Falwell. One 2012 text message, which Granda said came from Becki, read in part: “Right now i’m just missing you wish crazy have you ever had this effect on all of your lady friends?” Other newer text messages, like an exchange from this June that Granda provided to Reuters, show Granda growing angry and frustrated as his relationship with the Falwells frayed.
“Since you’re okay with ruining my life, i’m getting to take the kamikaze route,” Granda wrote to Jerry Falwell. “It really may be a shame because I wanted to succeed in a peaceful resolution and just advance with our lives but if conflict is what you would like , then so be it.”
In the same message string, Falwell replied: “You should by now understand that i will be able to not be extorted. I even have always treated you fairly and been restrained in response to your threats because I didn’t wish to ruin your life. Going forward, stop contacting me and my family.”
Granda said that while he entered into the relationship with the Falwells willingly, today he feels the couple preyed upon him. “Whether it had been immaturity, naïveté, instability, or a mixture thereof, it had been this ‘mindset’ that the Falwells likely detected choose that i used to be the perfect target for his or her sexual escapades,” Granda said.
In a statement released Friday, before news of the connection with Granda became public, Liberty University said its decision whether or to not retain Falwell as president has not yet been made. Its board of trustees, the statement read, “requested prayer and patience as they seek the Lord’s will and also seek additional information for assessment.
