Judge: Bob McDonnell Lawyers "Dancing Through Fantasy Land"

Virginia Republicans are quietly praying that the federal indictments against former Governor Bob McDonnell and his greed obsessed wife will somehow quietly go away.  The last thing that they want is for a trial and a public airing of all of the corruption and unseemliness that was apparently the norm in the McDonnell administration.  To this end, McDonnell and his Marie Antoinette like wife continue to try to distract the Court and blow smoke screens.  The Court is not amused.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

RICHMOND — A federal judge on Tuesday signaled that he is growing increasingly frustrated with the voluminous and at times rancorous filings by defense attorneys representing former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) and his wife in a corruption case, dismissing one of their recent requests as “dancing through fantasy land” and asking them and prosecutors to limit their written disputes “for the sanctity of the trees.”

U.S. District Judge James Spencer’s offhand comments during the less than 30-minute hearing were, in many ways, more interesting than his ruling on the legal issue at hand. The defense — arguing that it was unfair that a related civil case had been put on hold at the request of prosecutors — had asked the judge to force the government to withdraw that request. The judge ruled that he would not intervene.

But after issuing his decision, Spencer warned both parties to cut down on the disputes that made it to his desk. He said he viewed the case against the McDonnells as “not particularly complex” — putting him at odds with defense attorneys, who have sought to portray the allegations as a novel stretching of federal law — and he warned that he would not be swayed by references to other cases that different prosecutors had botched, such as that involving the late senator Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska.

“The defendants have been essentially operating on the assumption, and urging the court to operate on the assumption, that the government is going to do wrong,” Spencer said. “I don’t make that assumption.”

Although jurors likely will decide the fate of the McDonnells, Spencer’s views of the case are critically important. He will decide on defense attorneys’ motion to dismiss the indictment, expected to be filed soon, and he will decide how jurors should be instructed on the law should the case go to trial.

Spencer seemed skeptical of defense attorneys’ motion about the civil case almost from the moment the hearing began, saying he had not ruled on it previously because he could not find case law “that came anywhere near it.”

Spencer noted that another federal judge had approved the prosecutors’ request for the delay. At one point, he characterized the defense argument as “just dancing through fantasy land” and said there was “no support in the law for what the defendant is asking for.”

Also Tuesday, Spencer issued a written order granting, in large part, defense attorneys’ request to subpoena the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission for documents they say might help them question Williams.

The McDonnells’ attorneys and a Justice Department spokesman declined to comment after the hearing.

The Chef Who Brought Down Bob McDonnell

One of the ironies of Bob McDonnell's tremendous fall is that the match that lit what became a legal inferno was the decision to try to crucify the former chef at the governor's mansion.  Todd Schneider is the one that first talked to the feds and set them on the trail of McDonnell and Maureen "Marie Antoinette" McDonnell.  Talk about pay backs being Hell.  It is also noteworthy that again Maureen McDonnell seems to have been the one that fanned the flames.  The Washingtonian has a lengthy story that looks at Schneider's tell all statements.  Here are excerpts:

You don’t have to remind Bob McDonnell who Schneider is. Before Virginia’s 71st governor got crossways with his onetime executive chef, McDonnell was the Great Republican Hope. His win in 2009 snapped a four-year losing streak for the GOP in statewide elections, and after taking power in 2010 he wasted no time establishing himself as a conservative who could cut deals with Democrats. Mitt Romney considered him for the vice-presidential ticket in 2012, and pundits called him a credible contender for the White House in 2016.

Today the McDonnell brand is toast.

What began with some groceries missing from the governor’s kitchen has snowballed into the biggest—and most unlikely—political scandal to hit Virginia in decades.

And it all started with the man sitting in front of me: Todd Schneider, the chef who took down the governor. A man with a checkered past of his own.

“You have to remember,” Schneider told me, “everybody talks in the kitchen.”

the most powerful force in the executive mansion wasn’t the back-slapping governor or his outspoken AG—it was the first lady. 

Schneider says he became especially close with Maureen, a former Redskins cheerleader from Fairfax County. She spent so much time in the kitchen that he kept a barstool around so she could have a glass of wine and relax as they talked. Maureen had few friends and was lonely in the mansion, Schneider says. “I didn’t ask for this job,” she told him.

Although Maureen could be charming and fun, he says she had a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” personality. For one thing, she insisted the house be kept just so—if a bed wasn’t made to her satisfaction, the first lady would untidy the sheets so the maids had to start over. And Maureen infuriated the mansion staff by ordering employees to run her personal errands at all hours, Schneider says. He received text messages from her as late as 2 AM instructing him to fetch everything from liquor to tampons, and he’d be “browbeaten” for returning without the exact items she demanded, he says.

The staff grew to despise the governor’s wife; several maids quit and the butler refused to speak to her, Schneider says. Employees eventually drafted a letter to McDonnell threatening to resign en masse if their treatment didn’t improve. “Bottom line is she had issues,” the chef says.

The McDonnell children who didn’t live at the mansion removed “cases and cases” of Gatorade, soda, and bottled water from the kitchen, Schneider says. When the family’s twin sons moved out of their dorm at the University of Virginia, the first lady helped herself to mansion supplies in order to furnish their apartment, he says. “I’d be like, ‘I’m missing half my pots and pans.’ ”

He saw one daughter take drinking glasses with the state seal on them, while another left with boxes of unused trash bags. According to Schneider, she said, “Why should I pay for it?”

“Those people, they just had their hands in the cookie jar the whole time,” he says.

[I]n June 2011, Schneider’s company catered the wedding of one of the McDonnells’ daughters in the mansion’s garden. “They all drank and got drunk like crazy,” he says. The family was having so much fun that Maureen asked to extend the reception. Later, she refused to pick up the extra costs, Schneider says, and she never tipped the staff.

By now, everyone in Virginia knows the McDonnells didn’t end up spending a dime on the jumbo shrimp or London broil the 200 guests were served; it was Williams who paid the $15,000 bill.

Schneider overheard other staffers speculating that McDonnell’s relationship with Williams might not be aboveboard, and the chef was already concerned that goods were being lifted from the kitchen. “There was just too much weird stuff,” he says. He brought his concerns to the mansion director and the first lady’s chief of staff. “They said, ‘Cover your butt, Todd.’ ”

Schneider began documenting everything. He took cell-phone pictures of anything he thought looked fishy and made sure to preserve Williams’s wedding check to his catering company. “If they ever come after me, I’m going to sing like a canary,” the chef recalls telling the mansion director.

On February 10, 2012, a loud banging on Schneider’s door jolted him awake. Two men were on his porch: “I thought, ‘Why are there salesmen at my door at 7:30 in the morning?’ ”  But this wasn’t a sales call.  Someone had called an anonymous tip in to a state hotline for waste, fraud, and abuse and claimed that Schneider had stolen food from the governor’s mansion. Now the FBI and state police were at the chef’s door, ready to question him.

Schneider wasn’t concerned. There was a simple explanation for everything, he said.  In addition to cooking the first family’s meals, Virginia’s executive chef is expected to cater official events at the mansion. But the house didn’t always have enough linens, silverware, or chairs, Schneider says. When he came up short on supplies, he’d order them from his company and bill the state.

Unconventional though the arrangement may sound, Schneider’s story holds up—court documents substantiate it. The chef told the agents who came to his house that he’d carted off mansion food, but only as part of this barter agreement. When they left later that morning, he figured the matter was settled.

It’s unclear why Cuccinelli went ahead with the case, knowing the chef had the goods on the governor. “I think they thought that by [indicting me] it would shut me up,” the chef says. “It didn’t.”

In the coming months, the dirt came out. After the state refused to drop the charges against Schneider, all the petty details—the free wedding reception, the Rolex, the pilfered water bottles—found their way into the Washington Post and other newspapers from Richmond to DC.

In September 2013—when Cuccinelli had just weeks to go until the election—the state allowed Schneider to plead no contest to two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement. He was spared jail time and was ordered to repay the value of the goods he admitted taking.  The whopping total: $2,300.

[T]he thrust of his allegations of wrongdoing in the mansion is substantiated by records—records now in the hands of federal investigators.  Because of Todd Schneider, Bob McDonnell is not going to the White House.

Virginia's Sullied Image - Racist, Homophobic, and Now Corrupt

Virginia already has image problems with many parts of America and the rest of the world.  The state has a reputation as being among the most anti-gay in the country.  And then there's the increasingly obvious racism of the Republican Party of Virginia that new voter ID laws have helped to underscore.  And Loving v. Virginia will forever be an indictment of the state's racist past. But up until now, rightly or wrongly, Virginia retained an image of not being outright corrupt.  With the indictment of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his Marie Antoinette like wife, now Virginia joins the ranks of politically corrupt states.  A column in the Richmond Times Dispatch looks at this:

The federal indictment Tuesday of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, seems more an exercise in voyeurism than law enforcement. It’s that unseemly. It’s also historic, shattering Virginia’s reputation for honest, well-mannered government. A governor in irons is an image associated with Maryland, Tennessee, Louisiana, Connecticut and Illinois.

A disputed dietary supplement, Anatabloc is the brainchild of Jonnie R. Williams Sr., flamboyant former chief of financially troubled Star Scientific Inc. Williams saw gold in Anatabloc. To realize any riches required legitimizing his product, affixing to it the imprimatur of respected scientists and public officials. And that meant Williams needed friends in high places. So did Bob and Maureen McDonnell, but for different reasons.

The 43-page indictment depicts the McDonnells as practically destitute — tapped out by the expense of educating five children; of later marrying off two daughters; by investing in pricey resort real estate that would become a black hole; of keeping up appearances. Their difficulties were in full flower even before Bob McDonnell was sworn in as governor in January 2010.

It might have been avoided, the indictment suggests, had she listened to the people on whom the governor relied to protect his image as the earnest public official.  

Until the McDonnell indictments, federal criminal entanglements were a rarity for Virginia elective officials. 

[A]n elaborate scheme unfolded — one in which the government of Virginia, following enthusiastic assurances by Maureen McDonnell to Williams, pledged to support his money-losing company. 

While others have not mentioned it, McDonnell joins a list of discredited Regent Law School graduates.  Apparently, Pat Robertson is good at indoctrinating religious extremism, but not so good at stressing common ethics and ethical behavior.

Bob McDonnell and Wife Indicted on 14 Counts

I first met Bob McDonnell nearly 20 years ago and I never, ever would have expected that I'd see he and his wife indicted on federal charges.  Personally, my gut feeling is that Maureen got this ball rolling with Star Scientific and Bob McDonnell failed to rein her in and it was downhill from thereon out.  Based on what the Richmond Times Dispatch is reporting, both Bob and Maureen McDonnell are in very serious legal trouble.  What continues to stun me is the level of greed that seems to have consumed them.  Did they think that they would not get caught or did they believe that Virginia's near nonexistent ethics laws would allow them cover?  Obviously, McDonnell's political career is over. Here are story highlights:

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were indicted today by a federal grand jury on 14 counts stemming from the first couple’s acceptance and solicitation of thousands in gifts and loans from a wealthy businessman during McDonnell’s term.

The indictment, spelled out in an extensive document filed by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District, paints a detailed portrait of how the governor and his wife accepted more than $135,000 in direct payments as gifts and loans from then-Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams Sr.,  in addition to golf outings and other things of value, in exchange for the first couple's assistance in promoting his struggling Henrico-based company’s dietary supplement, Anatabloc.

It also asserts that the McDonnells lied on loan applications and forms requiring them to declare debts and then tried to cover their tracks.

Taken together, the charges, if they resulted in convictions and  maximum sentences, could produce fines in excess of $1 million and put the McDonnells behind bars for decades.

The indictment alleges "a scheme to violate federal public corruption laws," according to a Department of Justice release.

According to the indictment, from April 2011 through March, 2013, the McDonnells "participated in a scheme to use the former governor's official position to enrich themselves and their family members by soliciting and obtaining payments, loans gifts and other things of value from Star Scientific, a Virginia-based corporation and J.W.," an apparent reference to Williams, then Star's CEO.

"The McDonnells obtained the things of value in exchange for the former governor performing official actions on an as-needed basis to legitimize, promote and obtain research studies," for Anatabloc.

The indictment also alleges that the McDonnells "attempted to conceal the things of value received from J.W. and Star to hide the nature and scope of their dealings with J.W. from the citizens of Virginia, by ... routing things of value from family members and corporate entities controlled by the former governor to avoid annual disclosure requirements."

The indictment alleges that the first couple did not disclose that they had loans with Williams when they sought loans in October 2012 and in early 2013 from a financial institution and another private lender. It also alleges that Maureen McDonnell made "false and misleading statements" to investigators regarding the first couple's relationship with Williams.

The indictment also alleges that these actions, as well as attempts to produce paperwork after the fact declaring the loans and their terms to the borrowers, were an attempt to "obstruct, influence and impede" the investigation.

According to the indictment the McDonnells, both 59, are charged with:

* 1 count of conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud

* 3 counts of honest-services wire fraud

* 1 count of conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right

* 6 counts of obtaining property under color of official right

* 1 count of making false statements to a federal credit union

Additionally, Bob McDonnell is charged with making a false statement to a financial institution and Maureen McDonnell is charged with one count of obstruction of an official proceeding.

And the gifts were extensive. Among them:

More than $100,000 in campaign contributions, mostly in-kind donations of flights on Williams’ private jet

$15,000 shopping spree to New York City for Maureeen McDonnell in spring 2011

A trip to the Final Four in Houston to see VCU play in April 2011

$50,000 to Maureen McDonnell in May, 2011, $30,000 of which first lady used to purchase Star stock

$15,000 to cover catering expenses at the June, 2011 wedding of Cailin McDonnell

A 2011 summertime stay at Williams’ Smith Mountain Lake vacation home

$7,500 worth in golf outings for the McDonnell’s sons and members of his staff between May and September, 2011

A $6,500 Rolex watch with the inscription “71st Governor of Virginia”, which Maureen McDonnell gave to her husband for Christmas in 2011

$70,000 to MoBo Real Estate partners – a real estate partnership between the governor and his sister, in 2012

A $10,000 wedding present to another McDonnell daughter in December 2012.

Virginia's law is considered one of the most lax in the country regarding gifts to elected officials. There is no limit on the amount of a gift an official may accept, but officials must report any gift over $50 in value on annual statements of economic interest.  

What happened to the straight shooter that I once knew?  Did power go to his head?

Virginia GOP's Problems Still Not Over: Justice Department Likely to Indict Bob McDonnell

With the Democrats now holding all statewide offices in Virginia for the first time since 1969, the Virginia GOP still has another shoe that may drop soon after the new year begins: a federal indictment of out going GOP governor Bob McDonnell and his greed mad wife, Maureen.  Sources indict that the Justice Department was ready to indict  the first couple but decided to delay based on appeals from the McDonnell's attorneys.  While an indictment does not guarantee a conviction, it would still be another blow to the GOP brand in Virginia.  The Virginian Pilot reports on the situation:

Federal prosecutors told Gov. Bob McDonnell last week that he and his wife would be charged in connection with a gift scandal, but senior Justice Department officials delayed the decision after the McDonnells' attorneys made a face-to-face appeal in Washington, according to people familiar with the case.

Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told the McDonnells' legal teams that he planned to ask a grand jury to return an indictment no later than this past Monday, people familiar with the conversations said.

The governor and his wife, Maureen, would have been charged with working together to illegally promote a struggling dietary supplement company in exchange for gifts and loans from its chief executive, the people said.

They also argued that if prosecutors proceeded with charges, they should wait until after McDonnell left office Jan. 11 to allow a smooth transition of power to Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe.

Some element of the lawyers' arguments apparently persuaded the Justice Department to delay, according to people with knowledge of the case. They spoke on condition of anonymity because its sensitivity.

A final decision about whether to press charges is now not expected before Jan. 2 and could come as late as February, they said.

It is not unusual that a high-profile target, especially a sitting governor, would be allowed a chance to appeal a U.S. attorney's charging decision to top officials of the Justice Department. It would be very rare, however, for the Justice Department to ultimately overturn a decision made by a U.S. attorney.

McDonnell's attorneys have been pressing Justice Department officials to reconsider or delay - at least long enough for McDonnell to complete his four-year term and avoid becoming the first sitting governor in state history to face criminal charges.

It will be interesting to see what happens.   I still suspect that Maureen McDonnell is the one who began this saga.

Cuccinelli Is Screwing Virginia Taxpayers

I have long argued that GOP gubernatorial candidate has always wanted Virginia taxpayers to be forced to help underwrite his campaign, hence his refusal to resign as attorney general as has it been the tradition in Virginia for decades.   Cuccinelli has wanted to draw a full time salary while working part time at best.  A new analysis of his schedule confirms that he has been campaigning - 74% of the time - more than he has been working - a mere 26% of the time.  The Virginian Pilot has details.  Here are highlights:

That same-day juxtaposition - attorney general in the morning, candidate in the afternoon - shows seesawing commitments that lately have tipped the balance of Cuccinelli's campaign.

A Virginian-Pilot analysis of Cuccinelli's office and campaign schedules for July, August and part of September suggests he has spent more time on the trail than behind his desk while earning a $150,000 annual state salary, plus health benefits for his nine-member family.

According to the schedules, he was in his office seven of 22 work days in July, four of 22 days in August, and just three of nine the first two weeks of September. That equates to roughly 26 percent of the total work days over that period.

Remaining attorney general while seeking higher office has given Cuccinelli a platform, but also been a nagging campaign issue, as evidenced by his physical absences.

The campaign also has been hampered by the gift scandal orbiting Cuccinelli and his office, as well as its role in a legal dispute between Southwest Virginia landowners and energy companies over natural gas payments. Those episodes allowed critics to cry conflict, charges Cuccinelli could have more easily avoided if he'd left office, and undercut an argument that McAuliffe is unscrupulous.

His decision proved a boon for Virginia Democrats already loaded to hit Cuccinelli for his views on gay rights, abortion and climate change, all demonstrated during his high-profile tenure as attorney general. They have hounded him since January to resign - a state tradition followed by the six prior attorneys general who ran for governor - and they gained ammunition when he stayed.

Cuccinelli is a self-centered extremist (a trait he shares with his supporters at The Family Foundation) and it sounds like he needs to return a huge chunk of his pay check back to Virginia tax payers.

Daily Press: Mark Herring for Attorney General

While the choice ought to be obvious to anyone who has followed their respective political careers, it is none the less a surprise that the Daily Press - which serves the Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg and York County area of Virginia - has endorsed Democrat Mark Herring for Virginia Attorney General.  Apparently Mark Obenshain is too extreme even for the Daily Press' editorial board which tends to be far right in its political views (although not as bad as the Richmond Times Dispatch).  Here are highlights from the endorsement:

The choice for attorney general caused more debate for the Daily Press Editorial Board than any other statewide endorsement this year.

In the end, we are endorsing Democrat Mark Herring, in large part because we believe in his commitment to transparency and open access. This is a critical weakness in Virginia, given the state's tepid open government laws and inadequate ethics rules, which fed the flames of the Star Scientific scandal that impacted both the governor and the attorney general's office.

Mr. Herring and Republican nominee Mark Obenshain, both state senators, made it a point to distance themselves from many of the decisions Ken Cuccinelli has made in his four years as attorney general. Mr. Herring, for example, said the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should be applied to both the attorney general's office and the State Corporation Commission. Mr. Obenshain said he would not have instructed colleges and universities to remove homosexuals from the list of groups protected against discrimination. Both disagreed with Mr. Cuccinelli's decision to sue the University of Virginia to gain access to a former U.Va. professor's research on climate change.

[T]he winner of this election will play a predominant role in interpreting and enforcing the laws of the state, and for that reason it is worth examining those voting records to see what they tell us about the differing philosophies of the two men.

Mr. Obenshain, generally sticking to the GOP party line, has too often voted against individual freedom and in favor of intrusion in the lives of citizens – such as his votes in favor of a law mandating unnecessary ultrasound procedures for women seeking abortions, and in favor of voter ID laws that seem to be aimed less at detecting fraud than at discouraging voting among demographic groups that tend to lean Democratic.

Both candidates said they would provide transparency and open access to public records, but we are at least a little bit leery of Mr. Obenshain's commitment to that principle in light of his vote earlier this year in favor of sealing the previously public records on concealed carry licenses. Mr. Herring voted to keep those records open.

The candidates both favor tighter ethics policies for state officials, but Mr. Herring went further in that regard – vowing that he would urge the new governor to establish an independent agency to advise officials, investigate allegations of impropriety and enforce state policies on gifts, conflicts of interest and other matters of ethics.
Mr. Obenshain refused to sign on for Gov. McDonnell's transportation bill, a landmark piece of bipartisan legislation that provides critical funding for our highways and crossings. Mr. Herring's votes on gun legislation have consistently been more sensible than Mr. Obenshain's.

This race provides us with two strong candidates for attorney general. It is not an easy choice.  But our commonwealth is in need of transparency and public access to information. Because Mark Herring is more prepared to offer those things, we endorse him for attorney general.

Congratulations to Mark Herring.  Virginians need to get out and vote for him on November 5, 2013.

How Ken Cuccinelli Blew His Early Advantage

I will not feel comfortable until the votes are counted on the evening of November 5, 2013, and it is confirmed for certain that GOP lunatic candidate Ken Cuccinelli has gone down to defeat.  Yet the post mortems have already begun and a remarkable piece in the Washington Post authored by political polar opposites slams both Cuccinelli and his campaign for bungling and unbelievable tone deafness when it comes to reading the public mindset.  Much of the piece would blame Cuccinelli's campaign staff, but in my view, the real problems ultimately is Cuccinelli himself who (i) is a "true believer" fanatic who is so certain of his own views that he cares nothing about what others - including a majority of voters - may think and (ii) has created many easily avoidable disasters for himself.  Long ago he should have gotten out and mingled with those outside the echo chamber of The Family Foundation and far right organizations that much of the larger public perceive as scary and/or insane.  That, of course, would have been inconsistent with his zealot/fanatic/extremist mindset. Cuccinelli will likely never grasp that the views of The Family Foundation are not representative of most Virginians.  Here are column excerpts:

Last month, we wrote that Ken Cuccinelli II’s campaign to become Virginia’s next governor needed to raise its game or face certain defeat. Has it done so? Unequivocally, no.  Cuccinelli’s strategists and consultants have doggedly followed a baffling strategy.

Even the best campaigns can lose. But an inept campaign guarantees a loss for an underdog, and Cuccinelli (R) has been the underdog since July. The attorney general’s defenders will undoubtedly refute our analysis, claiming instead that bad luck and strong headwinds have hobbled the GOP effort in Virginia. In our view, his problems went much deeper.

Simply put, Cuccinelli’s advisers never displayed an ability to win. They badly underestimated the seasoned team of his opponent, Terry McAuliffe (D), which was aided by nearly twice as much campaign cash.

[T]he real damage from “giftgate” had nothing to do with luck. It resulted from Cuccinelli’s inexplicable refusal to repay the $18,000, even after McDonnell had reimbursed Williams. This gave McAuliffe a political gift: an issue to use in a late-summer television ad barrage to undercut Cuccinelli’s previously “clean” image. When Cuccinelli’s campaign finally realized its huge, unforced error, it reversed course and Cuccinelli donated the value of the gifts to charity. But the damage was done.

Cuccinelli’s defenders also bemoan the bad timing of the federal shutdown and debt default, which soured voters on Republicans generally. It’s true that was a tough break. But by then, his campaign was already lagging in the polls.

Moreover, Cuccinelli had been angling to harness tea party enthusiasm since his first-in-the-nation legal challenge to Obamacare in 2010. He had to know — or should have known — the risks of associating himself with the bloc’s often-rigid views. This month, he and shutdown leader Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), the tea party’s hero of the moment, were the featured speakers at the conservative Family Foundation’s annual gala in Richmond.
Bad luck also didn’t create a pattern of pitting gubernatorial candidate Cuccinelli against Attorney General Cuccinelli on issues such as McDonnell’s transportation plan, unpopular tolls in the Tidewater region and landowner rights in Southwest Virginia.

No, Cuccinelli’s problems aren’t about luck. They’re about a candidate and a campaign team being unable to play this level.

Consider: Early on, Cuccinelli refused to resign as attorney general when he mounted his run for governor, as predecessors of both parties have done. We agree that this unique Virginia tradition is outdated. But given that several developing cases were fated to become front-page news during the election, his campaign advisers should have seized on the Virginia tradition as a blessing. They didn’t see it.

Cuccinelli, the likely easy winner in the already declared GOP gubernatorial primary, decided nonetheless to get the rules changed. He helped force a nominating convention that was stacked against rival Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. The perceived double-cross alienated key Republicans.

As McAuliffe’s summer ad campaign methodically wrecked Cuccinelli’s image, the Republican’s consultants failed to offer what professionals call an “alternative positive narrative.”

Cuccinelli’s consultants agreed with Virginia political observer Larry Sabato, who said the GOP nominee was a sure winner once Republicans launched their anti-McAuliffe campaign. We debunked such foolishness early on. The Cuccinelli campaign long promised an October surprise. Right.

The verdict: “Unable,” aided and abetted by “unlucky,” leads to “unelectable.”

The authors of this scathing piece:  Norman Leahy, an editor of the conservative Web site BearingDrift.com and producer of the political radio show “The Score,” and Paul Goldman, a former chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia.  Typically, these men do not agree on anything.  

Cuccinelli: No Conflict for Him to Preside Over Election in Which He Is a Candidate

Sadly, we have already seen examples of Ken Cuccinelli's failure to avoid blatant conflict of interest while he has occupied the office of Virginia Attorney General: bribes gifts from Jonnie R. Williams, CEO of Star Scientific and bribes campaign contributions from Consol Energy which just happened to receive improper legal assistance from Cuccinelli's office, etc.  But now, Cuccinelli's batshitery/arrogance has reached unbelievable levels.  When requested to recuse himself/his office from presiding over legal disputes and issues arising from the 2013 gubernatorial contest in which Cuccinelli is a candidate, Cuccinelli has formally stated that "there is no conflict of interest."  In what universe?   What freaking planet is this man from?   The Richmond Times Dispatch looks at the insanity.  Here are excerpts:

This summer, state Sen. John S. Edwards, D-Roanoke, asked Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli whether it is a conflict of interest for Cuccinelli and his office to preside over an election in which he is a candidate.  He wanted to know whether that conflict required Cuccinelli to recuse his office from prosecuting any violations of election law.

On Friday, Edwards received his answer -- no.

"It is my opinion that there is no inherent conflict of interest presented, and thus, no per se requirement that the Office of the Attorney General recuse from investigating and prosecuting alleged violations of election law, when the Attorney General is a candidate for public office in the same election that is under investigation,"

"...There is no legal or ethical requirement that a sitting Attorney General who is on the ballot for an election disqualify himself or his Office from performing all of the Office's statutory responsiblities."
Cuccinelli wrote in a five-page legal opinion, posted to the Attorney General's website today.

"It is further my opinion that any potential recusal of that office must be determined on a case-by-case basis."

Edwards' request was an extension of a position maintained by Democrats in the campaign -- that by remaining in office while running for governor, Cuccinelli compromised not only his ability to serve but invited conflicts between his official responsibilities and his political interests.

The previous six attorneys general who ran for governor of Virginia all resigned their office before their terms expired to seek the Executive Mansion. Cuccinelli has said he would stay in office to fulfill his promise to voters to serve his full term.

Given Cuccinelli's past corruption and disregard for conflicts of interest, I for one do not feel the least bit comfortable knowing that Cuccinelli will likely try to manipulate the election results if the polls  bear out and he goes down in flames.  Cuccinelli is unfit for any elected office!
   

Jennifer Rubin: Cuccinelli’s Got Problems

Meanwhile, the debate continues as to whether or not the drastic drop in the public view of the Republican brand is part of the reason that GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli appears to be tanking in the polls.  Personally, I suspect that most of Cuccinelli's problems trace right back to Cuccinelli himself: his corruption - think money from Star Scientific and Consol Energy - and his scary religious extremism and extreme positions on social issues, including his anti-gay and anti-women jihads.  Jennifer Rubin is a conservative columnist who I generally dislike, but of late she seems to have been zeroing in on the systemic problem of today's GOP and the problems that Cuccinelli has created for himself through his slavish obedience to hate merchants at The Family Foundation and knuckle dragging climate change deniers.  Rubin has let loose on Cuccinelli in a blog post.  Here are excerpts:

Last night I received a recorded phone message from a group called the Tea Party Patriot Fund. In the guise of a poll, the ad for Republican gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli II asked if I supported the giant tax hike  by the “current governor” (alluding to the sales tax hike to pay for transportation) and whether I favored Medicaid expansion. The ad is noteworthy in several respects.

It was, like nearly all of Cuccinelli’s campaign (and this was a third-party ad, which cannot be coordinated with the candidate), entirely negative. The message is that Democrat Terry McAuliffe will raise taxes and expand Medicaid. Unfortunately for Cuccinelli, he’s managed to push down McAuliffe’s numbers but not raise his own, leaving McAuliffe the least-horrible choice for many voters.

In addition, this group doesn’t think that the transportation bill is popular. In fact, polling says it is, and, moreover, Cuccinelli hasn’t run on repealing it. (Had he done so, perhaps those fiscal conservatives wouldn’t be considering Sarvis). It’s part of the confusion about Cuccinelli — will he try to make the law work or seek to scuttle it?

And finally, telephone ad arguments against McAuliffe are weak. The House of Delegates is overwhelmingly Republican and the state Senate is evenly divided, neither of which is likely to change much in the November election. What are the chances the legislature will vote to raise taxes or to expand Medicaid? Not large. . . . .

One thing that would not have helped[Cuccinelli]  — although hard-line conservatives are brushing up this excuse — would have been to run harder on the social issues. He is already losing big in areas (Northern Virginia) and with groups (e.g. younger voters, women) who think he’s too extreme on social issues. Unlike Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who didn’t run on social issues and was able to win Northern Virginia and the women’s vote, Cuccinelli has been unable to escape being tagged as an extremist on these issues. On TV in Northern Virginia, you get one anti-Cuccinelli ad after another, most emphasizing his stance on contraception, abortion, etc.

Sometimes the voters do stumble upon a truthful, general proposition, even if they don’t have all the particulars exactly right. Cuccinelli is a very aggressive, confrontational politician who deeply believes in his positions on social issues, which are generally to the right of most voters in the most-populous areas of the state. That’s a fundamental problem with his candidacy.
Some say he’s “old Virginia” (akin to rock-ribbed conservatives like former Gov. George Allen, who held office 20 years ago) in a “new Virginia” (more diverse, tolerant, moderate, more residents not born in-state). If he does lose (which seems likely), that will be as good an explanation as any.

I find it ironic that some in the GOP are trying to say Cuccinelli is another George Allen.  George Allen - who was a law school classmate of mine who I spent an enjoyable evening with at our 20th alumni reunion - had his issues.  But he was never, ever has been the insane extremist that defines Cuccinelli.  Cuccinelli owes his gubernatorial nomination to The Family Foundation - an extreme far right Christian organization that seeks a theocracy and forced conformity with Christofascists beliefs - and Cuccinelli is one of these true believers.  More and more Virginians seem to be figuring this out and find the prospect of a Governor Cuccinelli to be nothing less than frightening.

Why Ken Cuccinelli is Losing the Virginia Governor's Race

I continue to hope that Democrats do not get cocky and/or indifferent and fail to get out and vote on election day.  It is VITAL that the GOP slate of Cuccinelli, Jackson and Obenshain lose, but that they lose disastrously.  Over and over again we hear whiners in the GOP claim that the GOP loses because it fails to nominate sufficiently conservative candidates.  In this year's Virginia GOP slate ALL of the nominees are far to the right of Attila the Hun, so if they go down in flames, that tired platitude will go down with them and hopefully send a message to the GOP nationwide.  Politico looks at what one can only hope is Ken Cuccinelli's rapidly collapsing campaign.  Here are excerpts:

Republicans can’t believe this is happening: Democrat Terry McAuliffe — whose controversial business dealings and past life as a party moneyman make him a walking negative ad — has taken command of the Virginia governor’s race.

More than a dozen interviews last week with longtime Republican insiders around the Commonwealth yielded near-unanimous consensus that their candidate, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, lost significant ground over the summer and would lose if the election were held today.

The only real point of disagreement is how wide a margin it would be.  “It’s going to be a bath,” one prominent state Republican who wants Cuccinelli to win went so far as to say. Like several others, the person sought anonymity to speak candidly about the state of the race.

But a contest that looked winnable for Cuccinelli for much of the year has broken against him. Here’s a look at how it happened.

1. The gifts scandal

Gov. Bob McDonnell was expected to be a big asset for Cuccinelli. Instead, the Star Scientific scandal has turned the incumbent into a major liability.

The constant drip-drip of revelations by The Washington Post — of gifts and loans totaling more than $124,000 from the dietary supplement maker’s CEO, Jonnie Williams, to the governor and his family — was bad enough for Cuccinelli. But the candidate couldn’t easily distance himself from the scandal because he, too, accepted some $18,000 worth of gifts from Williams — and failed to disclose a chunk of them, as required by law.

2. A divided GOP

A significant number of Republicans remain on the sidelines in the race. A nonpartisan poll released last week by Purple Strategies, which had Cuccinelli trailing by 5 percentage points overall, found that only 77 percent of self-identifying Republicans currently support him.

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who dropped out of the race for governor after the state GOP changed its nominating procedure to ensure Cuccinelli would win, said Friday he still isn’t comfortable endorsing Cuccinelli.

“Clearly, this is not just the most conservative, but the most ideologically-driven ticket that the Republican Party has ever put forth,” Bolling said in an interview. “There are a lot of Republicans, like me, very concerned about the direction of the party. We believe for the Republican Party to be a viable party in Virginia, we’ve got be a more mainstream party and communicate a more mainstream message.”

3. Northern Virginia has been neglected

Several Republicans complained that Cuccinelli has not spent nearly as much time campaigning in Northern Virginia as McDonnell did four years ago. A review of all his public events during the month of August shows only a handful of publicly announced appearances in the D.C. suburbs. He made far more stops in places that should be reliably red.

Cuccinelli‘s controversial views on abortion, gay marriage, skepticism of global warming and advocacy for the rights of fathers don’t play well in Northern Virginia, especially with women. He has tried not to emphasize those issues but also not backed away from his stances.  Operatives say that Cuccinelli has never created an identity beyond being a rock-ribbed social conservative.

4. Teflon Terry

 

“They’ve sold him as a businessman rather than a political fundraiser or a Clinton stooge,” said Larry Sabato, the University of Virginia political scientist, who switched the race to “Lean Democratic” before Labor Day.

5. The left is outspending the right

Democrats have significantly outspent Republicans on television so far, which has helped drive up Cuccinelli’s negatives, and that disparity is expected to continue for the duration of the race.

Through the end of June, Cuccinelli raised $7.7 million for the race and McAuliffe raised $12.7 million. The next fundraising report is due Monday.

Cuccinelli is beloved by the tea party, but he does not have an extensive donor network and has never built the deep relationships that McDonnell cultivated with many in the Richmond business community.

“The fundraising operation is sound, but they don’t have the brand and it’s too late to build it at this point,” said a Virginia Republican.

Again, it is CRUCIAL that gays, women, minorities and those who do not want a Christofascist inquisition state government turn out in mass and vote on election day.  Cucinelli, et al, need to lose by a landslide.s

Richmond Times Dispatch Column: Cuccinelli’s Damage Control Too Little, Too Late

I must confess that there is some sweet satisfaction watching Ken Cuccinelli twist on the rope created by his own greed, arrogance and unethical conduct.  As noted yesterday, he has belatedly tried to quell "Gift Gate" issues that may yet force Bob McDonnell from office by donating $18,000 - the supposed value of the gifts Cuccinelli received from McDonnell's benefactor - to a Richmond charity.  However, Cuccinelli has done nothing in respect to the $140,000 he received from Consol Energy and its affiliates in what would seem to be exchange for the Attorney General's office assisting energy companies in private, civil litigation with Virginia landowners.  A coulm in the Richmond Times Dispatch looks at Cuccinelli's lame efforts.  Here are excerpts:

Ken Cuccinelli thinks he’s found a way to unring the bell.

Gambling he can start talking about issues other than himself, the Republican nominee for governor announced Tuesday that he is donating to charity $18,000 — roughly the value of controversial gifts and goodies from Jonnie Williams Sr., the rich political uncle Cuccinelli and Bob McDonnell now wish they never had.

As an exercise in damage control, it could prove too little, too late.

Republicans tried waving off Giftgate as trite and insignificant when it exploded in late March. Nearly six months later, the scandal is wrecking McDonnell’s governorship and threatens to prevent Cuccinelli’s.

Pleading poverty, Cuccinelli said in July that he could not reimburse Williams for his beneficence.
“There are some bells you can’t unring,” Cuccinelli said two months ago.  But having had his bell rung in public-opinion polls that suggest voters view him as untrustworthy and unlikeable, Cuccinelli came up with 18 large for CrossOver Ministry, a health clinic for Richmond’s poor. The money was scrounged, his campaign said, from Cuccinelli’s accounts and those of his wife and their family.
End of discussion?  Not likely.

In the remaining eight weeks of this campaign, Cuccinelli must still explain how and why he allowed himself and his current office — the attorney generalship — to become ensnared in this ethical tangle in the first place. Such questions are kept alive not only by the cash-fueled Democratic noise machine, but also by two investigations into McDonnell and his knotty relationship with Williams.

As if that’s not enough, there is the growing phalanx of private lawyers — paid at growing expense to taxpayers — hired to defend McDonnell, the staff of the governor’s office and other state employees in Giftgate and related matters because Cuccinelli, as attorney general, can’t. That’s because Cuccinelli has a conflict of interest. . . . The bill for all those lawyers, so far, is nearly $250,000.

As if that’s not enough, there are two other private lawyers — one a former attorney general; the other, a former solicitor general, both Republicans and partners in the same firm — representing the state in its continuing fight with Star Scientific over $2.2 million in unpaid taxes and penalties on company warehouses in Mecklenburg County. . . .  they’re handling the case is a consequence of yet another Cuccinelli conflict of interest. He quit the case because of his stake in Star Scientific. Cuccinelli owned shares in the firm at the same time he was pressing it to pay its tax bill. He ultimately sold his shares at a loss.

Cuccinelli might have avoided all of this with one simple step he stubbornly insisted he would not take: resign as attorney general, freeing him from many of the constraints of a lawyer; freeing him to be a candidate.

How Cuccinelli disclosed his attempted game-changer shows that the candidate has largely lost control of his message.   Cuccinelli announced it by attempting to bypass the news media, issuing a video news release . . . 

It's a mess of Cuccinelli's own creation due to greed and arrogance.  And the column doesn't even get into the Consol Energy fiasco.

Cuccinelli Belatedly Contributes Star Scientific Bribes - I Mean Gifts - To Charity

After offering a plethora of lies explanations as to why he had to date refused to return or give to charity the bribes gifts that he received from Jonnie R. Williams/Star Scientific, today GOP gubernatorial candidate finally gave a sum equal to the known amounts he received to CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, a Richmond-area operation providing medical care to the uninsured.  Not surprisingly, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry is a Christian faith-based operation, although it has a surprisingly reputable board of directors.   Politico looks at Cuccinelli's surprising too little too late donation.  The cynic in me wonders where Cuccinelli found the money to make the donation.  Here are story highlights:

Virginia‘a Republican candidate for governor, Ken Cuccinelli, announced Tuesday that he has donated $18,000 to a Richmond-based charity to offset the value of gifts he accepted from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams.

His move came after Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is under federal investigation for his ties to Williams, and his family returned all the gifts and repaid $125,000 in loans to Williams in late July.

Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe has been pressuring his opponent to follow the governor’s lead. But Cuccinelli has said that he did not receive the kind of gifts that easily can be returned and suggested that he did not have the financial wherewithal to make such a large donation on his income, which was $194,000 last year.

“I made the decision to send the check because it is the right thing to do, plain and simple,” the attorney general said in a video statement released by his campaign.

There’s a palpable sense in the commonwealth that McAuliffe has opened up a clear lead in the election, and this move seems designed to get some momentum and take away one of the top Democratic attacks.

“For those who’ve been disappointed in this situation or how I’ve handled it, I apologize,” Cuccinelli said on the video. “It’s been a humbling set of lessons for me.”

Cuccinelli expressed hope in his video announcement that he can now talk more about issues than scandal in the final eight weeks of the race.

McAuliffe’s campaign scoffed at the move.  “Cuccinelli’s pattern of ethical behavior is always the same,” spokesman Josh Schwerin said. “Get caught in scandals, do nothing for months, and then buckle to pressure for his own political reasons.”

Again, my question is this: who gave Cuccinelli the funds so that he could make the donation? 

Del. Bob Marshall Urges Scandal Plagued Bob McDonnell to Deny Benefits to Gay National Guard Members

Del. Bob Marshall - one of the moving forces behind Virginia's heinous anti-gay Marshall-Newman Amendment to the Virginia Constitution - is truly a boil on the ass of humanity.  He never pass up an opportunity to do all in his power to make the lives of gay Virginians a living Hell.  Indeed, Marshall has proudly stated that he would like to drive all gays from Virginia.  The man is a monster and I frequently wonder what the Hell is in the water that his constituents continue to re-elect such a walking douche bag and hate merchant.  Now, Marshall is urging Virginia Governor Bob "Taliban Bob" "Gift Gate Bob" McDonnell to follow the batshitery displayed by Texas and Mississippi toward gay members of the National Guard.  The Virginian Pilot has details.  Here are highlights:

A conservative Virginia lawmaker is pressing Gov. Bob McDonnell to defy the U.S. Defense Department and deny benefits to same-sex couples with a member in the Virginia National Guard on the basis of the state's gay marriage ban.

Del. Bob Marshall this week wrote the governor asking him to take a position similar to that of the Texas National Guard, which has declined to enroll such families in benefits programs.

The commanding officer of that unit reportedly has determined that compliance with a Defense Department directive on treating all legally married families equally conflicts with state policy.

"Since Texas like Virginia has a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman they have appropriatly determined that they will not abandon their rule of law for the unprecidented judicial novelty," Marshall, a Prince William County Republican, wrote in his Sept. 4 letter.

"As Commander of the Virginia National Guard what will you do to secure that the spirit and letter of the Constitution regarding marriage will be upheld?" he asked McDonnell.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last month offered written guidance about extending benefits to same-sex couples in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision this year that overturned aspects of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Due to that ruling, the federal government is required to provide lawfully married gay couples with federal tax, health and other benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

Marshall's letter also asks McDonnell to shield state tax data from the Internal Revenue Service that could assist it in extending tax benefits to same-sex couples legally married in another state.

I'm sorry, but in my book, Bob Marshall is a pile of human excrement.  As for McDonnell, I suspect that he's more concerned about avoiding a federal indictment than worrying about kissing Marshall ass and the asses of the hate merchants at The Family Foundation.

Why the GOP May Lose Virginia’s Statehouse

The more one knows about GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli and his equally extreme running mates - E.W Jackson, in my opinion needs to be in a mental ward - the more one should be disturbed by the fact that this trio of crazies (pictured above) were even nominated.  This year's GOP statewide ticket speaks volumes about just how far the Republican Party has fallen.  Ignorance, bigotry and frightening religious extremism and a contempt for the U. S. Constitution are deemed virtues in today's GOP.  And with luck, Virginians will defeat these extremists in November and save Virginia from retreating into a lapse back to the 1950's or earlier.  An story in The Daily Beast looks at why the GOP may crash and burn in November.  Here are highlights:

The conventional wisdom on the Virginia gubernatorial race can be summed up in a single sentence: Terry McAuliffe is too weak to beat anyone other than Ken Cuccinelli, who likewise is too weak to beat anyone other than Terry McAuliffe. This, however, is a little unfair to McAuliffe.

Tea Party-favorite Cuccinelli is a rigid extremist, whose slavish devotion to his ideology has made him vulnerable in a state that prides itself on political independence. Which is why, if the latest poll from Quinnipiac University is any indication, the conventional wisdom is wrong—McAuliffe is stronger than expected, and Cuccinelli is much weaker than anyone imagined.

According to Quinnipiac, McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli by six points among likely voters, 48 percent to 42 percent. This is big news. So far, Quinnipiac is the only pollster to look beyond registered voters, where Democrats have an edge. The likely voter pool, by contrast, is smaller, whiter, and in the case of Virginia gubernatorial elections, much older. If past elections are any guide, a likely voter poll should have given Cuccinelli a small advantage over his opponent. For now, however, he’s at a significant disadvantage.

There’s more. At the same time “the Macker” is winning almost every Democrat (only one percent opposed), Cuccinelli is losing six percent of Republicans.  And indeed, recent news suggests that the state’s GOP establishment—or at least, a portion of it—has turned against the attorney general, repelled by his extremism and rigidity.
Cuccinelli has one other problem, and that’s his connection to the “gifts” scandal that has engulfed Gov. Bob McDonnell with questions, controversy, and a federal investigation. 

As always, it’s still early, and there are a lot of things that can change. Right now, however, the conventional wisdom doesn’t look so wise. The Virginia gubernatorial race isn’t one weak candidate against another, it’s one weak candidate against a disaster of an opponent, representing a Virginia Republican Party on the verge of collapse.

Turn out is critical and it is crucial that every sane Virginian, every woman who wants control over her own body, ever minority voter who fears disenfranchisement, and every gay who doesn't want to be re-criminalized needs to get out and vote against the GOP ticket in November.  We cannot sit back and assume that Cuccinelli, et al will lose.

Virginian Pilot: Bob McDonnell Needs to Resign

A post yesterday looked at the deepening problems of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and "Gift Gate" which was driven apparently in large part by Maureen McDonnell's incredible greed and willingness to sell political favors.  McDonnell's defense: he didn't know what his wife was up to.  It defies belief and frankly suggests that McDonnell is a liar to boot.  Today, the Virginian Pilot calls on McDonnell to do the right thing and resign so as to spare Virginia more seedy headlines and embarrassment.  Here are highlights:

Less than a month ago, Gov. Bob McDonnell apologized to Virginians for the financial and ethical controversy swirling around his office. He insisted that he broke no laws and was "committed to regaining your sacred trust and confidence."

In the ensuing weeks, however, new details about McDonnell's relationship with supplement maker Star Scientific and the company's chief executive, Jonnie Williams, have called into question the commitment to restoring that trust. Worse, the revelations have raised substantial new questions about the governor's ties to the company.

Those details include additional gifts provided by Williams to the governor's family, as well as confirmation that the governor's wife, Maureen McDonnell, twice purchased shares of Star Scientific stock with money loaned to her by Williams.

As The Pilot's Julian Walker reported, those stock purchases establish a direct financial connection between the McDonnells and the company that the governor and first lady have touted during his term. The governor's explanation - that he didn't know the extent of his wife's financial dealings with Williams - doesn't change that.

Star Scientific is the focus of a federal securities investigation and is embroiled in a $700,000 tax lawsuit against the state. Yet Virginia's first family owned shares in the company and accepted lavish gifts, including designer clothes, a Rolex and tens of thousands of dollars in loans, from the company's CEO.

On Monday, The Washington Post reported, federal officials met with attorneys for the governor and his wife to discuss whether the couple should be charged. That is a dire prospect, one that underscores the magnitude of the situation and the need for steady leadership and credible reform of the system that enabled the current mess.

McDonnell's failure to completely disclose his family's financial ties to Star Scientific has diminished his credibility and drained his capacity to lead the commonwealth. The latest revelations, even without the possibility of an indictment of the commonwealth's chief executive, make the prospect of his continued leadership untenable. He must devote his full attention to sorting out his personal and legal problems.

For the good of his office, of the state and of every Virginian - and for the good of his family and of himself - McDonnell should resign.

The Pilot is correct in its analysis.  I would only add that voters need to remember that Ken Cuccinelli was in bed with Williams and Star Scientific as well.  He merely received fewer gifts.  Or at least that's what he is telling everyone.

Bob McDonnell Pleads Unbelievable Ignorance - Throws Wife Under the Bus

The "Gift Gate" scandal surrounding Republican Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell continues to escalate and, based on coverage in the Washington Post, McDonnell is seemingly trying to claim that it is all the fault of his greedy wife and that he had no idea how much she was sucking up at Jonnie R. William, Sr.'s trough of gifts and questionable loans to Virginia's first family.  Frankly, McDonnell's story line defies belief - especially since Williams disputes it and says that McDonnell knew what was going on.  Whatever happens, it would seem that McDonnell's political career is over.   One can only hope that as the star Scientific scandal grows it will also envelop Ken Cuccinelli.  Here are highlights from the Post coverage: 

Attorneys for Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, will spend Monday locked in separate hours-long meetings trying to convince federal prosecutors that the first couple should not be charged in the gifts scandal that has dominated state politics.

The meetings open a new, critical phase of the investigation, timed to help prosecutors decide over the next few weeks whether to file charges, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation.

The central issues for prosecutors are what precisely McDonnell may have said or offered to Williams on his own and how much the governor knew about his wife’s acceptance of gifts from Williams and her actions to help his company just as Star was launching a new product.

As the scandal has shined an uncomfortable spotlight on the governor’s marriage, McDonnell’s side has conveyed to authorities that his wife often purposely kept him in the dark about the largess she was accepting from Williams, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

Their goal with that assertion is to convince prosecutors that it would have been impossible for Williams’s gifts to have influenced the governor in his official duties because McDonnell learned of many only after his wife had accepted them.

Prosecutors will have to decide how credible they find those assertions when considered against the timeline of the first couple’s interactions with Williams and other evidence, including Williams’s recollections.
According to two people familiar with his version, Williams has countered the account from the governor’s side.

The now fast-paced timeline of the investigation is driven in part by two factors.  First, prosecutors generally wish to move as quickly as possible if they think there is evidence of criminal actions by a sitting, still powerful elected official.  Second, Justice Department guidelines discourage prosecutors from taking action during an election season to avoid the perception that they are trying to influence the outcome.

Over a roughly 18-month span in 2011 and 2012, Williams gave $15,000 in clothing to Maureen McDonnell, a $6,500 Rolex watch he intended for the governor, $15,000 for catering at the wedding of one of McDonnell’s daughters and $10,000 as an engagement gift to another daughter.


Two people confirmed over the weekend that there were additional gifts, including golf clubs for each of the governor’s college-age twin sons and an iPhone for the first lady.

Most significant, in 2011 and 2012, Williams provided $120,000 to Maureen McDonnell and to a small holding company owned by the governor and his sister, money the governor has said were loans that he has now repaid.
[T]the governor’s team has told authorities that McDonnell did not know that Williams paid for a shopping trip for Maureen McDonnell at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City in spring 2011.  They also have told prosecutors that he didn’t know it was Williams who bought the Rolex watch inscribed with the words “71st Governor of Virginia.”

They say he learned of a $50,000 loan Williams made to his wife in May 2011, about two weeks after the money arrived, by which time it had been spent.   About $30,000 went to purchase Star stock intended for the McDonnell children and the rest to pay down debt.  McDonnell learned five months later, in November 2011, that the stock was in his wife’s name and had not been transferred to their children as she had indicated, according to someone familiar with the governor’s account.

 There's more, but it's hard not to conclude either (i) Bob McDonnell is an idiot, or (ii) that he thinks the prosecutors and Virginia voters are idiots.  I opt for option (ii).