Supreme Court Vacates McDonnell's Corruption Conviction

“I’ll vote for him again.”

Good grief. He is a first class sleaze. We aren’t arguing if he took the bribes. He tooknows the loot. He was a cheap date, too.

Sure, he stays out of the pokie, but good God, don’t elect this SOB to anything!

“This was a hit job on Bob McDonnell.”

How is it a hit job? Rolex, shopping trips to NYC, catered kids wedding....he took all of this. Sure he gets off now, but he took the stuff. He has no honor or scruples.

I’ll not be the least bit surprised if he and his wife ask for all the “gifts” back.

You cant run a hit job on an honest man.

“Where does he go to get his reputation back?”

He was let off on a technicality. A significant one to be sure, but he got in trouble because he is a sleaze. He is still a sleaze, just not a convicted sleaze.

Bob McDonnell can be retried under the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The background:
After a five-week trial and three days of jury deliberations in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, McDonnell and his wife were found guilty of public corruption charges on September 4, 2014. He was convicted of honest services wire fraud, obtaining property under color of official right, and extortion under color of official right. His wife was convicted of honest services wire fraud, obtaining property under color of official right, extortion under color of official right, and obstruction of a federal proceeding. Senior United States District Judge James R. Spencer set sentencing for January 6, 2015. The United States Probation Office recommended sentencing between ten years and one month to twelve years and seven months.

Following his conviction, McDonnell lost his Liberty University teaching job.

On January 6, 2015, Judge Spencer sentenced the former governor to two years in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Prior to sentencing, the judge agreed with the defense counsel; believing McDonnell’s gifts were overstated, and reduced McDonnell’s potential sentence. In arguing for leniency, McDonnell’s attorneys produced over 400 letters, including ones from McDonnell’s predecessor, former Democratic Governor and United States Senator Tim Kaine, and former United States House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor, arguing that McDonnell lead an exemplary public life marred by one mistake.

On January 26, 2015, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that McDonnell remain free pending appeal, but on July 10, 2015, the court affirmed McDonnell’s conviction. On August 31, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that McDonnell remain free pending a decision from that court to hear or not hear the case. On December 8, 2015, the U.S. Solicitor General and others filed a brief with the Supreme Court requesting the court not to hear the case. In January, 2016, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

The court heard oral arguments on the case for 60 minutes on April 27, 2016. Today the Court unanimously vacated McDonnell’s conviction onholding that the trial court’s construction of the statutory term “official act” was too broad, encompassing activities such as setting up meetings, hosting parties and calling Virginia officials to discuss Williams’ business. Justice Roberts, writing for the court, left open the option for retrying McDonnell under a more restrictive construction of the disputed term, writing, “If the court below determines that there is sufficient evidence for a jury to convict Governor McDonnell of committing or agreeing to commit an ‘official act,’ his case may be set for a new trial. If the court instead determines that the evidence is insufficient, the charges against him must be dismissed. We express no view on that question.”