For this republican the buck doesn't stop here. Bob is more into the my wife is a crazy bitch defense. I don't think the judge will pay any attention to any of these letters written by the children. If you remember the children were on the take too, all of their food was taken from the mansion and Jonnie kicked in money for their weddings and such. This is one sorry republican who won't take responsibility for anything, Pat Robinson taught him well at his fine christian Regent university.
From Todd Schneider's interview with the Washingtonian
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/the-c...
"The McDonnell children who didn’t live at the mansion removed “cases and cases” of Gatorade, soda, and bottled water from the kitchen, Schneider says. When the family’s twin sons moved out of their dorm at the University of Virginia, the first lady helped herself to mansion supplies in order to furnish their apartment, he says. “I’d be like, ‘I’m missing half my pots and pans.’ ”
He saw one daughter take drinking glasses with the state seal on them, while another left with boxes of unused trash bags. According to Schneider, she said, “Why should I pay for it?”
“Those people, they just had their hands in the cookie jar the whole time,” he says."
The McDonnell children were stealing from the Gov's mansion, as well as taking cash, travel, etc. from Williams but now say it is all Maureen's fault. Too bad the "children" escaped prosecuted.
Here is what the former gov and wife were found guilty of in Federal Court.
BOB, MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 1: Conspiracy to Defraud the Citizens of Virginia of Their Honest Services by Use of Interstate Wires
BOB, MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 2: Use of Interstate Wire Communications to Further Scheme to Defraud the Citizens of Virginia of Their Right to Honest Services ($15K Wedding Check from Jonnie Williams)
BOB, MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 3: Use of Interstate Wire Communications to Further Scheme to Defraud the Citizens of Virginia of Their Right to Honest Services ($50K MoBo Check from Jonnie Williams)
BOB GUILTY, MAUREEN NOT GUILTY — Count 4: Use of Interstate Wire Communications to Further Scheme to Defraud the Citizens of Virginia of Their Right to Honest Services ($20K MoBo Check from Jonnie Williams)
BOB, MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 5: Conspiracy to Obtain Property under Color of Official Right
BOB , MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 6: Obtaining Property under Color of Official Right ($50K check from Jonnie to Maureen)
BOB, MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 7: Obtaining Property under Color of Official Right ($15K check from Jonnie for wedding)
BOB, MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 8: Obtaining Property under Color of Official Right ($2,380 green fees at Kinloch Golf Club)
BOB GUILTY, MAUREEN NOT GUILTY — Count 9: Obtaining Property under Color of Official Right ($1,424 green fees at Kinloch)
BOB, MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 10: Obtaining Property under Color of Official Right ($50K MoBo check from Jonnie)
BOB GUILTY, MAUREEN NOT GUILTY — Count 11: Obtaining Property under Color of Official Right ($20K MoBo wire transfer from Jonnie)
BOB NOT GUILTY — Count 12: False Statement (Bob McDonnell’s statement to Towne Bank)
BOB, MAUREEN NOT GUILTY — Count 13: False Statement (Bob and Maureen McDonnell’s statement to PenFed)
MAUREEN GUILTY — Count 14: Obstruction of an Official Proceeding (Maureen McDonnell letter to Jonnie about dresses)
On Jan 6th ACVDN predicts 11 years and 6 months for Bob and 8years for Maureen. We will publish the actual prison time as soon as the judge utters them.
The Children Ask for a Light Sentence
One of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell’s daughters says his stunning downfall and conviction on public corruption charges can largely be attributed to the corrosive effects of just one person: her mother.
Jeanine McDonnell Zubowsky wrote in a blunt letter to a federal judge that it was former first lady Maureen McDonnell’s materialism and mental-health issues that derailed the rising political career of her husband. The letter of support for Robert McDonnell was part of a trove of 440 submitted by his attorneys, who are seeking leniency at his Jan. 6 sentencing in Richmond.
“My mom . . . has always been concerned about getting discounts or freebees,” McDonnell Zubowsky wrote. “She hid her coordination with people for free or discounted things or services and she didn’t communicate with my dad because she knew he would not approve. . . . The testimony about my mom was not just part of a defense strategy and was not an attempt to ‘throw her under the bus,’ but unfortunately, was the reality.”
In letters to the judge, McDonnell Zubowsky and another daughter, Cailin Young, also echoed themes that emerged at Robert McDonnell’s trial this summer, saying their father was an upstanding and religious man who was privately struggling with a crumbling marriage. Robert and Maureen McDonnell were convicted in September of using the prestige of the governor’s office to promote the company of nutritional supplement chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. in exchange for lavish gifts and loans.
The McDonnell children said their parents rarely communicated because their relationship was so strained. McDonnell Zubowsky wrote that she believed that her mother had mental health problems for years and that her father planned to address the matter after he left office. She wrote that her mother was lonely as her father’s political career took off and that she sought solace in material things. She also asked the judge to spare Robert McDonnell prison time because she is to give birth to his first grandchild in January.
Cailin Young wrote that it was immensely painful to see intimate details about her parents’ troubled private life splashed across TV screens and in newspapers daily during the trial. She and other family members said the public humiliation and trauma of the conviction had shattered their lives and that they would have a difficult time if he
were imprisoned.
“My Father is the heart and soul of our family and we will be lost without him,” Young wrote. Her husband, Christopher Young, added that “the mere thought of life without him is so heartbreaking that I cannot even believe it to be possible.”
Robert McDonnell’s sister also took aim at Maureen McDonnell, writing in a letter that “some of his wife’s actions have been unilateral and have blindsided Bob and his family.”
The private pain and turmoil described by some of Robert McDonnell’s closest family members contrasts sharply with the public figure that emerges in the hundreds of other letters submitted by the defense. From major policy initiatives to small kindnesses, the former Republican governor is described as a dedicated and tireless public
servant, a principled prosecutor and compassionate boss. Those submitting letters of support to the court include some high-profile names, such as former House leader Eric Cantor, preacher Pat Robertson and Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.).
But there also are letters from a legion of state legislators, staffers, campaign donors, former professors, acquaintances of McDonnell’s children and friends from high school and college. Anecdotes abound: McDonnell organized a fundraiser for a professor with cancer in law school, he paid a constituent’s rent, he visited a stranger in the hospital and comforted a low-level staffer from Newtown, Conn., after the mass shooting there.
A story related by Martin D. Brown, a former adviser to the governor on prisoner reentry issues, was typical. Brown wrote that he staged a father-daughter dance at the Richmond City Jail in 2013 for the inmates. McDonnell not only came to the event, Brown wrote, but he also brought his own daughter and stayed for the entire dance.
Afterward, he spoke to a group of prisoners about their prospects at the end of their incarceration.
“The Bob McDonnell I witnessed countless times, time and time again was a man of great compassion who could relate as comfortably with a ‘tatted up’ prisoner, welfare mother or child in need of adoption, as with a member of the General Assembly or dignitary,” Brown wrote.
Many suggested that McDonnell could not have knowingly taken a bribe, and some recounted stories of his sacrificing more lucrative jobs and career paths to pursue the public good. One wrote of McDonnell’s turning down a position as a “rainmaker” for a law firm because he didn’t feel that there was enough actual work involved.
“I do not know the Governor McDonnell who bargains campaign contributions and friendship for personal favors and still to this day do not believe that Bob McDonnell exists,” wrote Bruce Thompson, a major Virginia Beach developer and McDonnell financial supporter.
McDonnell’s attorneys are pushing for U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer to sentence their client to community service, but federal prosecutors have argued that a probation officer’s recommendation of more than 10 years in prison is a more appropriate sentence.
Supporters wrote in their letters that they were saddened, perplexed — and even bewildered in some cases — at what had befallen McDonnell. Lawyers for both Robert and Maureen McDonnell declined to comment for this article.
“The greatest tragedy in all of this is the decades of honorable work, selfless dedication to the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the goodness of the McDonnell family is diminished,” said Maureen Clancy, a friend of the family. “It breaks my heart and the heart[s] of countless people like me honored to call Bob and Maureen friends.”
On Jan. 6th we will see if there is justice for Bob and Maureen or if Virginia and its laws become the laughing stock of the United States and beyond.
GOP TAKES OVER
Now that the GOP has taken control of the Senate, the country waits to find out what the party will do with its new found power.
Congress has been notoriously gridlocked for the past several years — in large part due to Republicans, who used their majority in the House of Representatives and obstruction in the Senate to effectively veto Democrat initiatives. Now that the GOP controls the Senate and the House, it's unclear whether more legislation will pass — or if the newly Republican Congress will just butt heads with the president more.
They'll force Obama to veto what he doesn't like
When Democrats controlled the Senate (which they still do until the end of the year), they were able to block Republican initiatives born in the GOP-controlled House. The Senate would either vote against House initiatives, or simply let them die without coming to a floor vote. But with a Republican Senate, the GOP will be more able to send its legislation to the president, who will have to either sign bills into law or veto them.
In one sense, this is not a big deal. Democrats will still be able to block GOP legislation that they don't like. But forcing Obama to show what he stands for, instead of letting the Senate do the dirty work for him, could open the President up to more criticism. Obama will appear as though he is impeding governmental progress, whereas Republicans will look like they're doing all they can to move things forward.
That said, former President Bill Clinton used his veto power against a GOP-dominated Congress 37 times, and still left office as one of the most popular presidents in recent history.
The GOP can regulate the president's judicial appointees and cabinet positions
The president can appoint federal justices and cabinet members with a simple Senate majority. That was relatively easy to do with a Democratic Senate, but will be tougher with the Senate controlled by the GOP.
Presidents who face an opposing party in the Senate have historically still been able to successfully appoint a number of justices, but doing so will undoubtedly become more difficult.
A president's judicial appointees used to require approval from 60 senators. But Democrats grew so exasperated by Republicans blocking Obama's nominees that in 2013 they changed the rule — so that the justices now need only a simple majority to pass through.
Obama may try to rush the appointment of an attorney general while the Senate is still controlled by Democrats over the next two months. But if that doesn't happen, appointing an attorney general will probably become more of a headache, as Democrats would no longer have the votes needed to put a new person in office.
Republicans could push the Keystone XL pipeline into law
Legislation to start constructing an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas has bounced around Congress for some time now, though that period may come to a quick end now that Republicans have won a majority in the Senate.
The GOP has always been in favor of the pipeline, and now they have enough votes in the House and the Senate to bring the issue to Obama's desk. The president is not guaranteed to veto it — but if he does, Republicans might find enough Democrats to side with them and win a supermajority to overturn a veto.
They can push back on immigration reform
Obama has promised comprehensive immigration policy reform since before he was elected to his first presidential term, but has been unable to reach a compromise between the two parties. That's not likely to change before Obama finishes his final term in January 2017.
So the president has made clear that he will use an executive action — which requires no approval from Congress — to defer deportations for some undocumented immigrants before the end of 2014. More immigration executive actions may follow.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, soon to be Senate majority leader, said in a press conference on Wednesday that if Obama goes through with any executive actions on immigration reform, it would be "like waving a red flag at a bull." The GOP believes this is an example of the president overstepping his authority, and this divide could cause even more bad blood that could push Democrats and Republicans further apart on other issues.
Republicans would try to make international trade agreements easier
The Senate has been controlled by Democrats for the entirety of Obama's term so far, but that doesn't mean they've always agreed.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has prevented the Senate from voting on "fast track" trade agreements that Obama wants — largely because union-backed Democrats are wary of such agreements.
These fast track deals are agreements between the United States and another country. Right now, the Senate has the authority to vote on each piece of an agreement, but a vote in favor of fast-tracking these deals means the Senate could only vote on each agreement as a whole.
Reid doesn't like this idea, because it means the Senate won't know the details of what's being negotiated. Obama wants it done, because other nations are wary of trying to work out a deal when the Senate could veto any piece of it.
Reid may not be a fast-tracking fan, but McConnell is. Now this looks like it has a shot to sail through Congress. But who knows what else will? We'll begin to see whether Washington, D.C. has changed when January 2015 rolls around.
What Happens Next?
Here's what will happen. The GOP crazies will do that same old crap they've always done. They will crash the economy, shut-down the govt., transfer the wealth to the 1%, ignore climate change and doom this planet and all of us on it. They will deny women equal rights, ban abortion based on fake science and ensure women who are raped live a life of horror with little chance for a abortion. They will make education more expensive and constantly be at the beck and call of the Koch brothers. At some point probably when the economy is down the tubes again the voters will wise up and realize the republican party represents some interests other than theirs. As long as the common voter can be motivated to hate gays, blacks, immigrants and poor people then they can still be tricked into voting for the GOP. In short you have gotten exactly what you voted for. Now find me some Democrats with the stones to tell it like it is instead of pretending they don't know anybody named Obama.
UPDATE
Longtime Adviser To David Duke Donated To Steve Scalise
A longtime adviser to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke donated money to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Federal Election Commission records show.
The Daily Beast pointed out Wednesday that Kenny Knight gave Scalise $1,000 in 2008.
Scalise came under fire this week after it was reported he spoke at a 2002 conference hosted by the white supremacist group European-American Unity and Rights Organization. The Washington Post reported Knight was one of the people who invited Scalise to speak at the event. Scalise said he "didn't know" the details of the groups
attending the conference and called accusations of connections to the white supremacist group "insulting and ludicrous."
Scalise has struggled this week to distance himself from Duke, who said the congressman is "a fine family man" with whom he often agrees.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) both backed Scalise on Tuesday, calling him "a friend" and "a man of high integrity and good character."
"More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate," Boehner said in a statement.
These republican leaders should circle the wagons and expend whatever energy it takes to defend this outstanding republican. Since they have no agenda toward governing the country they have plenty of time to defend Scalise. If these dirtbags don't stick together and look out for each other who will? Only the voters in Scalise's district control his being a congressman but the republican leadership made him the number three and welcomed him to a leadership position.
Amherst Virginia Democratic News
ACVDN
Amherst Democratic News
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