Free Republic

John McDonnell could not be more wrong in branding Winston Churchill a ‘villain’ over his actions towards the striking miners of Tonypandy in November 1910, but his statement has far more profound implications than merely a long-standing historical dispute about Labour Party demonology. This warped view of history says much about McDonnell himself and goes to the heart of Jeremy Corbyn’s Marxist-inspired regime. McDonnell prides himself on his own anti-Fascism, but blinds himself to the contribution of the person who did more to fight and ultimately destroy the Nazis than any other Briton. As The Mail on Sunday’s serialisation of...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has labored mightily to avoid criticizing President Trump, but two weeks into the new administration, it’s getting harder to downplay their differences. On Sunday, McConnell told CNN he disagreed with Trump’s view of Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioned the president’s claim of massive voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election and cautioned against the administration going too far with restrictions on travel from predominantly Muslim countries.

A Democratic Party email calling for temporary workers to man a massive and unprecedented presidential election recall effort in Dane County had Republicans crying foul this week. The Democratic Party of Dane County advised that County Clerk Scott McDonell was looking for temp workers beginning Thursday to help check over 316,000 ballots cast in this month’s election. Recount workers could earn $20 an hour, maybe more, on 12-hour shifts, the notice stated. “We’re asked to forward this to people we think would be up to the job and have time to do this. Please send people to county.clerk@countyofdane.com if interested – or if...

Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to drop their corruption case against former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, bringing to a close a case that gripped the state capital, tarnishing the former governor’s reputation and the state’s.

If you had any doubt whether or not Obama’s politicized DOJ was deliberately targeting conservative elected officials, this should confirm your suspicions. The US Supreme Court overturned a convictionin June against former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell for bribery. This was extremely significant, because the decisionwas unanimous — even all the liberal justices on the court agreed the criminal charges were a sham. Writing the opinion for the court, Chief Justice Roberts saidthe prosecutors had taken an overly broad interpretation of federal bribery law, and that if the court had allowed the conviction to stand, it would have made it extremely...

A federal appeals court has signaled that it agrees that former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell’s corruption convictions should be tossed out because of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned her husband’s convictions. Attorneys on both sides said that a ruling Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit suspends the public corruption case, and that further legal action is necessary to vacate the convictions as prosecutors decide whether to seek a new trial. But they said the order indicates that the court agrees with a defense analysis — unchallenged by prosecutors — that the first...

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine took advantage of the state’s lax gift laws to receive an $18,000 Caribbean vacation, $5,500 in clothes and a trip to watch George Mason University play in the NCAA basketball Final Four during his years as lieutenant governor and governor, according to disclosures he filed. Now a leading contender to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Kaine reported more than $160,000 in gifts from 2001 to 2009, mostly for travel to and from political events and conferences, according to disclosures compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project. The givers included political supporters, a drug company that soon...

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated former Gov. Bob McDonnell's conviction on corruption charges Monday morning. The decision was unanimous, according to SCOTUSblog, which is tracking opinion releases this morning in Washington, D.C. The court overturned a decsion that rose out of the U.S. District Court in Richmond, then was affirmed by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The nut of the government's case against McDonnell, and his wife Maureen, was this: In taking some $177,000 in gifts and loans from businessman Jonnie Williams, and then setting meetings Williams sought to gain legitimacy for a controversial dietary supplement, the McDonnells engaged...

GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with the media before addressing the Family Foundation of Virginia's 30th annual gala at the Greater Richmond Convention Center Saturday, November 14, 2015. (Alexa Welch Edlund) Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in Richmond to boost his presidential bid in the commonwealth, said Saturday that the terrorist attacks in Paris underscore the threat the Islamic State poses to the United States."I want to express solidarity with the people of France, with the people of Paris - all across America, Americans are lifting them up in our prayers, we are standing with our friends and...

In recent years, conservative politicians have found themselves prosecuted not for the types of crimes elected officials committed in the past like theft, bribery and nepotism, but instead for nebulous sounding activity, the kind where it is difficult to understand why exactly something was wrong. It has proven easy for Democrat prosecutors to convict each “ham sandwich” victim, because the laws have become so vast, vague and complex that the public – including those serving as jurors – cannot understand them. On January 7, former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, a conservative Republican once considered a leading contender for President, was...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has approved former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s request to remain free while he appeals his corruption convictions. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said McDonnell’s appeal raises a substantial question of law or fact that could warrant reversal or a new trial. Special coverage: The McDonnel corruption trial The court also ordered that briefs in the case be filed by March 2 and set a May 12 hearing. A jury last year found McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of taking gifts and loans from a vitamin executive in...

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was sentenced today to two years in prison for public corruption. U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer said McDonnell must report to prison on Feb. 9. Spencer said he was moved by the support for the former governor, but "a price must be paid. Unlike Pontius Pilate, I can't wash my hands of it all. A meaningful sentence must be imposed." Earlier, McDonnell addressed the court, asking that Spencer show him and his wife, Maureen, mercy. "I stand before you a heartbroken and humbled man," he said. The sentence could be seen as a victory...

A federal judge in Richmond on Tuesday will sentence Bob McDonnell on public corruption charges that could land the former Virginia governor in prison for more than a decade. Sentencing guidelines stipulate that McDonnell should receive around 10 years in prison after his September conviction on charges he accepted more than $150,000 in gifts from a wealthy businessman in exchange for preferential treatment. But the governor’s defense lawyers have argued that McDonnell should only serve 6,000 hours, or 250 days, of community service. Jeffrey Bellin, a law professor at The College of William and Mary, said judges have wide discretion...

A former rising star in the Republican Party, former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was red-faced and sobbing Thursday after a jury convicted him and his wife on multiple counts related to influence-peddling while he was in office. After more than a month of sometimes soul-baring testimony, the federal jury issued guilty verdicts on 11 counts against McDonnell, while clearing him on two others. His wife, Maureen, was convicted on nine while cleared on four. The charges involved gifts the couple received from a businessman, including a Rolex watch, a $15,000 check for their daughter’s wedding and other items that are...

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.

[Vanity] Please list recent governors and members of the U.S. House and Seante who have done worse than abuse $120,00 worth of power. Please provide one or two lines on their unprosecuted criminal conduct.

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In this Tuesday Jan. 21, 2014 file photo, former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell speaks during a news conference in Richmond, Va., accompanied by his wife, Maureen.AP As governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell was a savvy southerner often talked about as a hot Republican presidential prospect for 2016. Now he’s fighting to stay out of jail. The fall-from-grace narrative is a classic one, a rising-star politician who accepted lavish gifts from a rich businessman seeking help from state government. But this tale had a twist: McDonnell’s wife, Maureen, was a key go-between with the executive, Jonnie Williams. In a Richmond courthouse,...

Three high-level veterans of former governor Bob McDonnell's administration, two with South Hampton Roads ties, have newly registered as lobbyists for the pro-Medicaid expansion Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. They are Janet Vestal Kelly, a past secretary of the commonwealth who attended Regent University, and her husband, Ryan; former U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake of Norfolk, who was McDonnell's public transit director; and Matt Cobb, a deputy health secretary under McDonnell.(snip) The hospitals are leading a push to expand Medicaid, a government subsidized health care program, to as many as 400,000 uninsured low-income, Virginians newly eligible under the federal Affordable Care...

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen are facing a slew of federal corruption charges, but as they appeared in court for the first time today, reports emerged that the Republican politician once rejected a plea deal that would have spared his wife entirely... The plea agreement Mr McDonnell rejected last year, according to the Washington Post, would have required him to acknowledge only that he filed an incomplete mortgage application when he failed to list money he had borrowed from Mr Williams. For Mr McDonnell, once considered a possible presidential running mate in 2012, a political future...