Corruption at the State's Highest Office

Thank you U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer for denying the request of five former State Attorney Generals (AGs) who tried to get the courts to dismiss the 11 of 14 corruption charges against former Governor Bob McDonnell, according to an Olympia Meola story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Their argument that basically he was only doing what everyone else had done doesn’t mean we should let him off the hook. In fact, if we follow the real logic path here, it means we ought to be seeking corruption charges against those former governors who apparently also took advantage of being the top dog in Virginia.

To say that this whole chapter of McDonnell’s plight is wrong is like saying Jerry Sandusky loved kids. There is something desperately sad about situations in which people in power take advantage of those situations. Taking a gift here and there is not a problem, but taking more than a hundred thousand dollars in cash and gifts shows a lack of moral turpitude.

Some may say, "but McDonnell did so many good things for the state." But when this kind of stuff turns up it naturally leads a person to speculate about what other backroom deals were going down that for one reason or another we never get a whiff of. Apparently, if we take the word of these five former AGs to heart, there is plenty to go around.

Does this not reek of the kind of logic parents might use against their kids? “If Johnny jumped off the Varina-Enon Bridge would you too?”

Uh oh, is what it means to me. If that kind of tacit approval of “gift accepting” is commonplace in the commonwealth then how can anyone prosecute any other elected official for bribery? How is it that numerous Richmond city council members get rung up for taking bribes or selling influence when all they are doing is following the lead as represented in our highest state office? Come on, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Or as the jailhouse mantra goes, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”

While I realize the former governor is in the fight of his life, isn’t there just a tad bit of poetic justice in this? For years, McDonnell prosecuted people for doing just what he and his wife did. McDonnell is not a dumb person. He’s educated, he’s a lawyer, and he has a certain amount of savvy. It’s jarring to think that he would get caught up in a scandal like this, unless he felt somehow his actions were outside the bounds of the law.

So what do you think? Do you think the McDonnell’s were aware of what they were doing? Do you think that former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams Sr. was just offering to help the family out to the tune of over $165,000? Or is it more likely that the family was in dire financial straits and saw this as a way out of their dilemma. After all, doesn’t everyone need a $20,000 wedding reception for their daughter?

This case, perhaps more than any other bribery cases, needs to be heard in court. There needs to be a finding and representation of facts in the court of law. And just perhaps the McDonnell’s are innocent. If so, they will be cleared and the wheels of justice will roll on. But the law of the land needs to apply to all the state’s citizens, especially those who represent the residents. If we can’t trust them, who are we supposed to trust?