Bob McDonnell, Wife CHARGED In Gifts Case [View all]

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Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife Maureen were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government. The two were charged in connection with their relationship with dietary supplement executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr.


Authorities alleged that McDonnell and his wife received gifts from Williams again and again, lodging near constant requests for money, clothes, trips, golf accessories and private plane rides. In exchange, authorities alleged that the McDonnells worked in concert to lend the prestige of the governorship to Williams’s struggling company, a small former cigarette manufacturer that now sells dietary supplements.



McDonnell, 59, is the first governor ever to face criminal charges in a state that has prided itself on a history of relatively ethically clean politics. The threat of indictment had loomed over the final months of his four year term, which ended with the inauguration of Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Jan. 11. Though U.S. Attorney Dana Boente had informed McDonnell in December that he intended to pursue charges, McDonnell made a final appeal to top Department of Justice officials in Washington and no action was taken until 10 days after he left office.



McDonnell’s indictment comes in the midst of the General Assembly’s annual legislative session and is likely to accelerate efforts to overhaul the state’s ethics and gifts laws, long considered some of the most lax in the nation. McAuliffe and leading state lawmakers in both parties have both already said they support such changes. The criminal prosecution also marks stunning crash for a politician who was considered for the Republican vice presidential nomination in 2012 and just a year ago was considered a credible future for president.




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http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/former-va-gov-mcdonnell-and-wife-charged-in-gifts-case/2014/01/21/1ed704d2-82cb-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html