While the Virginia Republican Governor ( Bob McDonald) saga is new to most of the US, I have been following it for a year in the Washington Post and I have written about it on these pages.
Bob McDonald is a square-jawed Republican Governor with a beautiful blond wife, who aspired to at least the US Vice-Presidential nomination and who must have been on everyone’s short list.
He is being charged with corruption by the Justice Department — which McDonald calls “overreaching.”
Now I often accuse politicians of overreaching, and this time it was clearly McDonald.
Some snake-oil CEO of some supplement made of tobacco, befriended the Governor, and they traded favors. The CEO paid for the lavish wedding of one of the Governor’s daughters, and treated the wife to a Prada-fueled New York shopping trip. Then there was a gold Rolex for the Gov….and the list goes on. In exchange, the Governor, and his wife touted the product of the company, even in Governor mansion parties. A clear quid pro quo.
The Governor ignored all news reports, always claiming he had done nothing wrong — but recently he returned the “gifts” and repaid the money.
“ While I deeply regret accepting these legal gifts and loans from Mr. Williams, all of these now have been returned or repaid with interest,” McDonnell said in a press conference. “I repeat again emphatically that I did nothing illegal for Mr. Williams in return for what I believed was his personal friendship and his generosity.”
Politicians really do feel entitled. They really do feel above the law.
They really do “overreach.”
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Filed under: Crime, Culture, Economics, Justice, Media, Politics, Taxes | Tagged: Bob McDonald, Republican Governor, Virginia Republican Governor |
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