Herring blasts study of his office as politically motivated

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has denounced a wide-ranging review of his office by the legislature's watchdog agency as a politically motivated witch hunt.

The Democratic attorney general blasted the review as "baseless" and an "inquisition." He also said it was designed to "support partisan preconceptions" in a November letter to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

"It is clear to me this process will be nothing more than a search for data points to justify presupposed conclusions, and an exercise in finding evidence to support partisan preconceptions," Herring said in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.