The campaign of Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is calling out former Rep. Abigail Spanberger for failing to disclose her role as a trustee while a member of Congress.
The Spanberger campaign contends the Democrat candidate for governor wasn’t required to disclose her role in the truste that owns the family home valued at about $900,000. The sparring comes as the as the Virginia governor’s race heats up.
Spanberger was elected to the U.S. House in 2018, a big Democrat year, and was reelected in 2020 and 2022. She did not seek reelection in 2024. Earle-Sears was elected to lietuenant governor in 2021. In an off-year election, it’s one of two governor’s races in the country along with New Jersey.
The Henrico County, Virginia, real estate records say: “Adam J. Spanberger, trustee of the Adam J. Spanberger Revocable Trust Agreement on March 31, 2017 and Abigail Davis Spanberger, trustee of the Abigail Davis Spanberger Revocable Trust Agreement dated March 31, 2017.”
The House Ethics Manual says all “positions” including trustee must be disclosed. But the manual also states personal residence does not have to be disclosed.
“Personal residences that do not earn income are not required to be disclosed, so Abigail did not disclose her family’s only home—as doing so would make their home address publicly available,” Spanberger campaign press secretary Libby Wiet told The Daily Signal.
“When Abigail and her husband updated their will, they put their family’s home in a trust,” Wiet continued. “Abigail filed her disclosures in accordance with House ethics rules, which do not require her to disclose her role as a trustee of a living trust holding only her family’s home.”
The private residence is not the point, said Peyton Vogel, press secretary for the Earle-Sears campaign.
“Abigail Spanberger got caught hiding a trust—and not just any trust, but one holding nearly a million dollars in assets,” Vogel told The Daily Signal. “That’s not an accident—that’s a calculated lie. Disclosure forms don’t require anyone to put their families at risk—only honesty. If she’s willing to lie about something this serious, Virginians just can’t trust her.”
Henrico County says the property’s current assessment is $855,000. Homes.com says the estimated value of the house is between $822,000 and $911,000. The home is described as almost 4,000 square feet and five bedrooms.
House rules address both trustees and personal property differently.
“Individuals must disclose any nongovernmental positions, whether or not compensated, that they currently hold, unless the statement is the first one filed with the House,” the House Ethics Manual says. “On an individual’s first statement, the individual must disclose all positions they currently hold as well as those held in the previous two years. Included are such positions as officer, director, trustee, partner, proprietor, representative, employee, or consultant of any corporation, company, firm, partnership, or other business enterprise, any nonprofit organization, any labor organization, or any educational or other institution.”
A separate House Ethics Committee general information document says information that can be excluded includes, “trustee or executor, unless it was for an organization (rather than, for example, a family member).”
The ethics manual also states, “Personal residences not producing rental income, and personal property not held primarily for investment or the production of income (such as artwork displayed in one’s home) need not be reported.”
