Virginia governor Robert F. "Bob" McDonnell
Alan: I am ambivalent about making this post. On one side of the ledger, Gov. McDonnell is a devout Catholic who has done much good, at least in his private life. McDonnell also illustrates how easily public officials are bribed in these "United" States. In addition to the "legal bribery" already built into The System, The Supreme Court's recent decision to "open the floodgates" to corporate money has magnified the influence of lucre out of all proportion, so that the linchpin American principle of "one person, one vote" means nothing. Now that The Supremes have declared the United States worthy of "the best government money can buy," clean-cut fellows like Bob McDonnell will be systematically corrupted as matter of course. Although Mammon appeals to "both sides of the aisle, Republicans -- with their idolization of Big Money -- are singularly susceptible to trivial enticements like Rolex watches, private jets and country club memberships. The GOP may have a disproportionate number of professed Christians on its rolls but the party's core credo is fatuous beyond measure: "The one who dies with the most toys, wins."
Bob McDonnell
Wikipedia
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"The Religious Right's Nice Guy Who Threw His Wife - A Former Washington Redskins Cheerleader - Under The Bus"
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/05/the-religious-right-s-nice-guy-who-threw-his-wife-under-the-bus.html
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"The Religious Right's Nice Guy Who Threw His Wife - A Former Washington Redskins Cheerleader - Under The Bus"
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/05/the-religious-right-s-nice-guy-who-threw-his-wife-under-the-bus.html
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"The Real Tragedy Of Gov. Bob McDonnell: Busted For Gizmos, Not Plutocratic Cash"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-real-tragedy-of-gov-bob-mcdonnell.html***
Count by count verdict
Here’s the verdict, count by count, in the Robert F. and Maureen McDonnell corruption trial:
Count 1: Conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 2: Honest services wire fraud: $15,000 wedding check
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 3: Honest services wire fraud: MoBo $50,000
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 4: Honest services wire fraud: MoBo $20,000
Maureen G. McDonnell: Not guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 5: Conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 6: Obtaining property under color of official right: $50,000 in 2011 to MGM
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 7: Obtaining property under color of official right: $15,000 wedding check
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 8: Obtaining property under color of official right: $2,380 Kinloch 5/29/2011
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 9: Obtaining property under color of official right: $1,424 Kinloch 1/7/2012
Maureen G. McDonnell: Not guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 10: Obtaining property under color of official right: $50,000 MoBo
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 11: Obtaining property under color of official right: $20,000 MoBo
Maureen G. McDonnell: Not guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Guilty
Count 12: False statement to Townebank on 10/03/2012
Maureen G. McDonnell: N/A
Robert F. McDonnell: Not guilty
Count 13: False statement to PenFed on 02/01/2013
Maureen G. McDonnell: Not guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: Not guilty
Count 14: Obstruction of an official proceeding
Maureen G. McDonnell: Guilty
Robert F. McDonnell: N/A
Sentencing set for Jan. 6
With no fanfare, U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer set sentencing for Jan. 6 at 10 a.m.
Robert McDonnell, who sobbed throughout the proceeding, walked out with his head down. Maureen McDonnell hugged a friend at length in the aisle of the court.
The verdict: Guilty
A federal jury Thursday found former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of public corruption — sending a message that they believed the couple sold the office once occupied by Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson to a free-spending Richmond businessman for golf outings, lavish vacations and $120,000 in sweetheart loans.
After three days of deliberations, the seven men and five women who heard weeks of gripping testimony about the McDonnells’ alleged misdeeds acquitted the couple of several charges pending against them — but nevertheless found that they lent the prestige of the governor’s office to Jonnie R. Williams Sr. in a nefarious exchange for his largesse.
The verdict means that Bob McDonnell, who was already the first governor in Virginia history to be charged with a crime, now holds an even more unwanted distinction: the first ever to be convicted of one.
He and his wife face decades in federal prison, although their actual sentence could fall well short of that.
Guilty on corruption, not guilty on falsifying loan documents
Robert F. McDonnell has been found guilty of 11 corruption counts. He was acquitted of falsifying loan documents.
Maureen McDonnell has been found guilty of eight corruption counts as well as obstruction of justice. She has also been found not guilty of falsifying loan documents.
The McDonnell family is sobbing in the courtroom.
Maureen McDonnell guilty on eight corruption counts
Maureen McDonnell guilty on eight corruption counts and obstruction of justice.
Robert F. McDonnell has been found guilty of 11 counts — all corruption charges.
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