Former Governor Bob McDonnell Charged With Corruption
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Things have gone from bad to worse for Bob McDonnell, the once highly touted Governor from Virginia that had national ambitions but ended his tenure with a tarnished reputation and a federal investigation that he just couldn't get rid of. That investigation has now concluded and McDonnell and his wife were charged in Federal Court with a multitude of felony counts. The McConnell's stand accused of accepting thousands of dollars in gifts, luxury vacations, and loans from a wealthy businessman, Jonnie R. Williams. They have been charged with 14 felony counts ranging from wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and obtaining property under color of their official office, among other counts. Mr. McDonnell was separately charged with making a false statement to a financial institution.
McDonnell's fall from grace would have seemed unthinkable a few years ago. He was a popular Governor that was not shy about his ambitions for a much higher office. Now he is facing multiple felony counts and looking at the real possibility of spending a long time behind bars and facing massive financial penalties for his actions.
This sad series of events just goes to show how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The unsettling aspect about this story is that the cynic inside of me believes this kind of stuff happens all of the time, regardless of political party, but only makes national headlines when one of these politicians is dumb enough to get caught. Do you agree with me, or do you feel that McDonnell is just one bad apple that bit off more than he could chew?
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jaredsxtn Wrote: This have gone from bad to worse for Bob McDonnell, the once highly touted Governor from Virginia that had national ambitions. McDonnell and his wife were charged in Federal Court today and stand accused of accepting thousands of dollars in gifts, luxury vacations, and loans from a wealthy businessman, Jonnie R. Williams. The former Governor and his wife have each been charged with 14 felony counts ranging from wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and obtaining property under color of their official office, among other counts. McDonnell was separately charged with making a false statement to a financial institution.
McDonnell's fall from grace would have seemed unthinkable a few years ago. He was a popular Governor that was not shy about his ambitions for a much higher office. Now he is facing multiple felony counts and looking at the real possibility of spending a long time behind bars for his actions. It just goes to show that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The sad thing about this story is that the cynic inside of me believes this kind of stuff happens all of the time, inside of both political parties, but only makes national headlines when one of these politicians is dumb enough to get caught. Do you agree with me, or do you feel that McDonnell is just one bad apple that bit off more than he could chew? I believe it's called an occupational hazard, some get caught , but most don't. This why lobbyist and other special interest groups should be banned from politics, these groups are formed with the sole interest of providing influence for their particular group and by any means necessary.
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Democrat
Colorado Springs, CO
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Other Party
Llos Angeles, CA
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Democrat
Colorado Springs, CO
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This thread kind of died for lack of interest while trial preparations were underway. To summarize events, former Governor McDonnell and his wife, Maureen were indicted on January 20th on federal corruption charges. It was a 14-count indictment charging the McDonnell's with accepting more than $177,000 in gifts and loans from Jonnie R. Williams, the CEO of Star Scientific, in exchange for helping promote the company's products, principally the so called "Miracle drug" Anatabloc, and other dietary supplements.
What makes this case interesting now is McDonnell's rather bizarre defense that heaps all the blame on his wife, Maureen McDonnell, who he said was having an affair with Jonnie Williams. I won't go through the whole list of stuff that Williams "lavished" on McDonnell, his wife and their children over several years, but if it can be proven that it is all Maureen's doing, she is less culpable because she is not an elected official and not subject to many of the laws that applied to McDonnell.
Included as evidence that his marriage was on the rocks, McDonnell produced a long e-mail that he allegedly wrote to his wife in 2011. It's a doosy...you can read it here:
Huffington Post: Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's Sad Letter To His Wife
Has this e-mail dated September 5, 2011, been concocted and somehow back-dated to 2011? It's has a ring of phoniness to me, like his working on his 2010 taxes in September 2011 to reinforce the date stamp...except don't most people work on their taxes in March and April? Why put that at all in the "husband scorned" e-mail letter to his wife? If he did concoct the whole thing, could it be considered another crime on falsifying evidence? You read it and judge. And don't start crying reading McDonnell's sob story. Ha!
The soap opera continues on Monday when Maureen McDonnell, represented by her own counsel, begins her defense. I am suddenly interested and will tune in.
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