Posted on 09/04/2014 12:22:07 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
RICHMOND, Va. — Former Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia and his wife, Maureen, were convicted of corruption in federal court Thursday, following a trial that halted the political ascent of the one-time Republican star and peeled back the couple’s private life to the bone.
As 11 counts of “guilty” were pronounced on counts of conspiracy, bribery and extortion for Mr. McDonnell, he covered his face with his hands and his head fell nearly to the defense table. His wife, convicted on eight counts, looked straight ahead. There were sobs from the seats behind the couple that included their five adult children.
The McDonnells were indicted on 14 counts of conspiracy, bribery, extortion and related charges stemming from what prosecutors said was a scheme to sell the office of governor, which Mr. McDonnell occupied through January this year, for $177,000 in gifts and cash from a dietary supplements executive.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
As someone very close to this scandal, I believe there’s more behind this than just tarnishing a republican, though that’s undoubtedly one of the “benefits” they see to it. McDonnell really had nothing to do with what was driving Star’s revenues, despite the gifts he received. I performed research on their compound and that had something to do with it. I only met Maureen in passing once and never received any support or benefits from the ex-governor or his wife. I’m not even in Virginia.
The whole scandal has caused Star to put under the microscope though and the FDA has recently stepped in to stop the sale of their product, claiming that they were making claims about what their product could do based on my research prior to human clinical trials. As far as I can tell their press releases really only reiterated what I found but with all the usual legal CYA disclaimers, but the FDA deemed it not good enough. Basically the fix was in once the scandal broke.
I can’t say this with my name attached to it, but just anonymously let me say that the whole thing smells funny. I’ve been thinking for a while now that this whole scandal is really aimed at keeping this compound I’m testing from being brought to clinical trials and application. I’ve done the research on it myself and I’ve seen other experiments my colleagues are doing, and it shows tremendous promise at treating a number of inflammation-related conditions. One of those conditions is repetitive head injury, and this may sound crazy, but there is currently a strong movement underway to get rid of American football.
I’ve seen the conversations going on in the head injury research field behind closed doors for years now, but it’s starting to come up to the surface, and the general direction of the field is simply to show “how bad” playing football is for the brain. Many of these researchers are quietly hoping that their research will completely eradicate the sport in their lifetime. Meanwhile the lawyers are salivating at the prospect of huge lawsuits, that part is already underway. There’s a lot of money to be had here by both the scientists and the lawyers, and none of them want to see something come to light that could dramatically reduce the effects of repetitive head hits. The emphasis is mostly on establishing the negative effects of the hits, not on really trying to find a way to treat it. Maybe it’s a bit too conspiratorial sounding, but I think there’s more to this case than just throwing tar on a republican governor. That’s only the start of it.
I've been saying this for years, "The DOJ is nothing more than the armed wing of the sitting political party."
And what the Bush DOJ did to Martha Stewart was just as bad.
I miss America.
And, ObOzO and his bitch Holder go free to continue to terrorize the country.
It’s deep government. You don’t even need a formal conspiracy to deprive conservatives of rights. Once any government worker knows you’re an enemy of the state, they then know you’re an enemy to their paycheck and therefore their enemy.
It’s going to be a long, rough fight back to the Constitutional limits of US gov.
Demrats systematically are going after all the republican governors.
They also had to bring back a bunch of stuff that some how ended up in the moving truck.
Couldn’t get out of the 1st paragraph without identifying he was a pubbie.
If he was a dem you would not be able to find his party affiliation in any article.
If he accepted $177,000 in “gifts” while acting as Governor, then he clearly has violated the public trust. If nothing else he should be sent to prison for being stupid.
I am hoping that once Eric Holder is gone there will be dozens of these trials for crooks on both sides of the aisle.
I’ve never seen such a push for soccer by the media as this year. Most people I know hate soccer, never watch it. With the outside “forces” trying to change this country, you might be right about an underlying effort to get rid of American football. Football is one of the few remaining activities which unites the people in the USA.
I really think that’s a part of this. Not saying what the governor did was right, not saying what the former CEO of star did was right. There’s a reason one of my former bosses is now the new CEO of that company. But I think there are additional reasons why this particular company is now being targeted. It hasn’t let up just because the CEO is out and the governor is going to jail.
>> If he accepted $177,000 in “gifts” while acting as Governor, then he clearly has violated the public trust. <<
But why is that a FEDERAL crime?
Because of a Federal Statute.
Are you suggesting that our laws not be enforced? Should we overlook federal crimes because the defendant is a member of our party?
The jury was rigged of course. Another potential presidental candidate taken out of the way for another Bush i guess.
Mark Levin on WMAL right now tearing this BS-libtard case to shreds.
Its not the dems its anyone who opposes the Nwo order. Obama is a puppet.
Cattlegate alone should have put Hillary in prison let alone Whitewater and the S&L scheme
Did he disclose everything he received?
If so, then there is no way he could win- what kind of a$$holes did they pack this jury with?
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