Virginia Ex-Governor Must Face Prosecution in Corruption

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Andrew Zajac May 20, 2014 12:36 PM ET

Virginia’s former governor Robert McDonnell, once a rising star in the Republican Party, failed to persuade a U.S. judge to throw out federal corruption charges against him and his wife, Maureen.

U.S. District Judge James Spencer in Richmond, Virginia, ruled today that U.S. prosecutors sufficiently supported their charges in the McDonnells’ indictment and that the case against them, scheduled for trial in July, should move ahead. Spencer also rejected the couple’s request that their cases be separated.

The McDonnells are accused of accepting vacations, loans, private plane rides and other benefits in exchange for using the governor’s office to benefit businessman Jonnie Williams, who at the time headed Star Scientific Inc. (STSI) and was trying to promote the dietary supplements made by the Glen Allen, Virginia-based company.

Before the gifts scandal emerged in the Virginia and Washington media, McDonnell, 59, was often mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate for 2016, attractive in part because of Virginia’s swing-state status. His name also appeared on analysts’ short-lists as a running-mate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-20/virginia-ex-governor-must-face-prosecution-in-corruption.html

[Kelvin Mace]

1. Facts are annoying things...

[Swede Atlanta]

2. Oh please oh please.....

let's get this trial underway in July so we get a conviction ahead of the November elections.

These two are the poster children of greed, graft and corruption in today's GOP.

[gussmith]

3. Speedy Justice

These type cases take so darn long. I vaguely remember that the Virginia constitution does not literally preclude excessive gift-taking.

[onehandle]

4. So he won't be doing the GOP response to the State Of The Union again?

Lookin' all Presidential with flags and smiling lackeys in the background?

[IMG][/IMG]

[jmowreader]

9. Never say never when it comes to the G-O-Pee...

All he needs do is publicly ask Jesus for forgiveness, and he'll be the Repukes' BFF again.

[bpj62]

5. Sad Day in Virginia

Never before in the long history of the Commonwealth of Virginia has a Governor current or former, Democrat or Republican been indicted. McDonnell is a former prosecutor so he knows exactly how far he could push those boundaries but I guess he felt that he was protected by a Republican controlled legislature. He didn't count on the feds looking into his business. Both he and his wife are real characters and I can bet that a divorce comes out of this trial because the Governor has done his best to roll his wife under the bus multiple times. Couldn't happen to a nicer couple and I hope they are convicted, appeals heard and denied and jail time served. Sad thing is the republicans in this state think that this is a political prosecution, they are unable to wrap their brain around the fact that some things are illegal.

[gussmith]

6. Well Said

[SnowCritter]

7. All I can say is...

[Fred Sanders]

8. The McDonnells will soon join D'Souza in a jail cell, justice is slow but so very sweet.

[marble falls]

10. Please let the trial occur during the general election 2014!!!!!