'Straight arrow' considers health-care suit

[mahatmakanejeeves]

'Straight arrow' considers health-care suit

By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 8, 2010

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Sometime this month, {U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson} will rule in a case filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) challenging the constitutionality of the nation's sweeping health-care overhaul.
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Some have called on Hudson to recuse himself from the case because he owns stock in a campaign-consulting company that has done work for the Republican National Committee and other conservative groups. Cuccinelli also paid Campaign Solutions Inc. for $9,000 of work this year and last. When Hudson's investment became public, Cuccinelli canceled his account with the firm.

In an interview, Hudson said he and his wife invested in the firm before his appointment to the bench. They did so at the invitation of friend and neighbor Becki Donatelli, the company's founder and a major Republican fundraiser, he said.

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"Maybe I'll agree with his ruling on this, and maybe I won't," said Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (Fairfax), who leads the Democratic majority in the state Senate and supported Hudson's appointment to the Fairfax judgeship. "But people make a big mistake trying to dump him into an ideological barrel. Just when you think you've got him figured out, he'll dump that barrel over on you."