VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Laura Hughes, the chair of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach and a former Virginia Beach School Board member has been indicted on a felony charge by a grand jury.
Monday, a Virginia Beach grand jury indicted Hughes on a charge of intercept wire communications, a class 6 felony.
Multiple sources tell 10 On Your Side that the charge stems from an incident in which Hughes recorded someone who was on the phone with former party chair Bill Curtis while in the bathroom at the local party headquarters in February. Hughes was allegedly outside the bathroom door.
Sources say Hughes then posted the recording on her Facebook page. It has since been taken down.
Hughes was not immediately available for comment on the charges.
Virginia Beach Commonwealths Attorney Collin Stolle, who is a member of the local Republican party recused himself according to a spokesperson. Jack Thorton, the Commonwealths Attorney in Northampton County, has been appointed as special prosecutor in the case.
This isn’t the first time Hughes has been accused of breaking the law. In 2020, the Virginia Department of Elections fined an association Hughes established for failing to file a Statement of Organization within the proper time limit.
