Virginia’s 5th District representative Tom Perriello will be this year’s featured speaker at the 47th annual Monticello Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony.
Last year’s speaker was former U.S. President George W. Bush.
The event will be held on the Monticello grounds with festivities beginning at 10am. It will be open to the public and free of charge.
Monticello has hosted this ceremony since 1963 and has sworn in about 3,000 individuals as American citizens.
According to published reports, former Landmark Hotel development partner Lee Danielson has filed a countersuit to Halsey Minor’s initial suit that charged Danielson with breach of contract and fraud. Danielson’s countercase charges Minor and his company with $5.75 million that he has owed Danielson since November of 2008.
In regards to the most recent development of the case, Danielson spoke to C-VILLE about his reason for the counterclaim.
"My countersuit would have been the initial suit but [Minor] rushed ahead of time because he thought it was better," says Danielson. "He doesn’t have much of a suit."
Danielson says that because of the terms of his contract, he was unable to make any movement in suing Minor for the extensive costs.
Currently, Halsey Minor (right) is involved in court cases with Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Merrill Lynch, leaving some—like former development partner Danielson—to question his credibility.
"Under the terms of my contract, I had to wait 60 days in order to exhaust the payment of what he owes me," says Danielson. "My contract had gone up before I could do anything. It’s a very, very destructive and vicious game for a lot of people. It’s nasty.
"It’s just ridiculous, there will be plenty of evidence against what Mr. Minor might claim (against me)," Danielson says.
The ongoing suits that have occured between Danielson and Minor have been numerous. But Minor has spent a great amount of time dealing with several other lawsuits that throw his credibility into question, according to Danielson.
"His credibility speaks for itself," says Danielson.
Minor is currently still involved with court cases between Landmark lender Specialty Finance Group, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Merrill Lynch. Due to tension between SFG and Minor over a $10.5 million payment on the loan that the lender claims Minor owes, there is potential for this entire project to foreclose, according to Minor’s suit.
"This project is one of the best things that could have ever happened, it was very well conceived, it had all positive impact, no negative impact," says Danielson. "I have enough money to finish the project, we just have to clear this up first."