Ex-Governor McDonnell and Wife Convicted After Corruption Trial

NYT ^ | 9/4/14 | Trip Gabriel

[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.

[Cedar]

Don’t know who he is. Had to google him. Would rather watch Vanderbilt or any other lower-level team play football than watch Tim Howard/soccer.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Pretty much my point. Your post about soccer in a McDonnell thread was a red herring.

[Cedar]

Hey, Colonel, if you had read messierhunter’s interesting comments, you would know I was responding to messier’s post, which in part stated:

“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.”

[Hawthorn]

But why is that a FEDERAL crime?

The short answer is . . . if the corruption affects the spending power of the United States

I certainly appreciate your response and your obvious expertise. That being said, it's very hard even to imagine an application of the "spending power argument" to the McDonnell case, at lease as regards info reported in the mass media. I wonder if you agree?

if corruption affects interstate commerce

Again, it's hard for me to imagine an application to the case at hand. But then I didn't hear the testimony or read the documents in evidence!

or if corruption uses the federal mails or interstate phone network

That one I get. If Williams called or emailed McDonnell from out-of-state, and if they discussed some illegal action or quid-pro-quo favor, then I can see a guilty verdict on one or more counts. I wonder if such evidence was introduced during the trial?

I also believe that state-level corruption violates the Guarantee Clause of the Constitution. Article 4 Section 4 of the US Constitution requires that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government."

Under that reading, if a state government becomes corrupted, then it is no longer acting with the consent of the governed and therefore fails in its responsibility to be republican. Although I'm not the first person to come up with this argument, I'm pretty sure no court has considered the Guarantee Clause argument yet. However I personally think it's stronger than the Commerce Clause stuff.

I can sorta agree. If there's a law review article somewhere that explores the matter, I guess I oughta read it.

But anyway, if this justification wasn't raised in the trial, can the prosecution advance it during an appeal?