"I have lots of friends who give me stuff but mostly they give the stuff to my wife and daughter and dog, not to me so I don't have to report it. Sometimes they may give something to someone on my staff but I don't know about it. Occasionally like every weekend the kids may take food or liquor out of the mansion to use at a party they are having but I don't know about that and I'm sure the tax payers won't mind. I'm Bob McDonnell and I didn't know about any of this and didn't do anything wrong. I can still govern."
Sir would you say that again, I want to make sure I'm hearing you correctly. McDonnell didn’t report the various gifts on his disclosure forms, arguing that they were given to his wife and daughter, not him, and therefore he wasn’t required to disclose them.
McDonnell says he’s still able to govern so he will keep on cashing his paycheck from Virginia tax payers. His sidekick and hand picked replacement Ken Cuccinelli is not so secure as he remains in hiding and refuses to answer questions. In Italian Cuccinelli means corrupt dirtbag. Ken Cuccinelli even had an ownership interest in Star Scientific. Will the investigation by the FBI show that that ownership interest was also an unreported gift?
It’s plausible that the McDonnells are close friends with Williams and that he’s simply shelling out what to him are pittance amounts out of kindness. And one would think proving that any state action on behalf of Star Scientific were a quid-pro-quo.
Still, it doesn’t look good. McDonnell didn’t report the various gifts on his disclosure forms, arguing that they were given to his wife and daughter, not him, and therefore he wasn’t required to disclose them. That may well be the case but going beyond the minimum standard would seem the prudent course here. And, frankly, a state governor should generally decline large personal gifts, regardless, just to keep these sort of questions from coming up in the first place.
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell sought to assure Virginians on Tuesday that he is able to do his job as governor and not be distracted as the FBI explores the relationship that he and his wife have with the businessman who helped pay for their daughter’s wedding.
McDonnell’s remarks were his first extensive comments following revelations in The Washington Post in late March that Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. paid the $15,000 catering tab at Cailin McDonnell’s June 2011 wedding.
Odds are good that McDonnell who is known as Gov. Vaginal Probe will end up with a new nickname but his plans to run for president in 2016 are fading.
The controversy also has extended to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, who initially failed to disclose substantial stock holdings in Star and personal gifts from Williams. Ken has been re-doing his disclosure forms at the rate of three a week for the last two months. This incident most likely won't affect Ken since his support comes from the Tea Party. As long as you don't raise taxes the Tea Party is fine with a little corruption. Ken is in hiding but his wife is doing tv ads for his campaign to replace McDonnell.
In an hour-long radio interview, McDonnell (R) denied any provable wrong doing. But he acknowledged that the gift from Williams could raise questions and that it had created pain for his family.
The issue trailed McDonnell into the afternoon, when he was asked about it at a Council on Foreign Relations forum. McDonnell had traveled to Washington for that event to discuss the across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration but found himself defending the role he and his wife played in promoting Star. Mrs. McDonnell traveled doing promotional work for Star.
“I’ve had a remarkable opportunity to serve these last 3 1/2 years, and there’s nothing going on at all that impairs my ability to do a good job and to serve the people of Virginia,” McDonnell said on WTOP. McDonnell said he plans to keep on cashing the Gov's checks til they throw him out of office or the term ends, whichever comes first.
McDonnell offered his most complete defense of his actions to date at the two appearances, saying he never did any traceable favors for Williams or his company in exchange for campaign contributions and personal gifts given to him personally.
“I’ve been blessed to have a lot of friends,” he said. “And Mr. Williams and his wife, Celeste, have been family friends for four or five years. But I think it’s important for the people of Virginia to know nothing has been done that can be documented with regard to my relationship with Mr. Williams or his company, Star Scientific, to give any kind of special benefits to him or his company.”
The governor’s comments came on the day The Post reported that FBI agents are conducting interviews about the McDonnells’ links to Williams and actions they have taken to promote the dietary-supplement maker. McDonnell, asked about it on the radio program, said it was his practice never to comment on ongoing criminal cases or reveal anything that could cause problems later — a reference to the felony embezzlement case of the former mansion chef who catered the wedding.
Three days before the wedding, first lady Maureen McDonnell traveled to Florida to address a group of investors about Star’s supplement, sold under the brand name Anatabloc. The governor and wife later hosted a luncheon at the mansion to mark the product’s arrival in stores. Bob was firm in stating he would do this for any company even if they had never given his wife or daughter anything. Even if they never loaned him a car or fronted a vacation for him. Bob said he was just that kind of fellow who enjoyed helping others. The Gov didn't mention when the next luncheon at the mansion would take place or which company he would be promoting or when he and his wife would travel to an out of state location to promote a product. Bob finished by saying "it's all very normal and innocent you know."
At the District forum, McDonnell said that his wife’s actions on behalf of Star were consistent with her longtime interest in “nutraceuticals” and her efforts as first lady to help boost Virginia businesses. Just ask anyone who knows my wife and they will tell you she is very interested in nutraceuticals, she talks about them all the time. “My wife is the first lady,” he said. “You know how much she gets paid by the people of Virginia? Zero. Zip. Nada. Not a red cent. She’s a volunteer. She’s done a very good job as first lady.” If some company wants to give her some gifts or something then what's the problem?
McDonnell also spoke of his struggle to be a “normal citizen dad” amid the pomp of the governor’s office. Thats why he borrowed the $190,000 sports car to get back to Richmond from Smith Mounntain Lake. Bob and his family wanted to see how normal people live.
Former mansion chef Todd Schneider suggested in a court motion last week that McDonnell’s five adult children had taken large quantities of food and liquor to their own homes or college dorm rooms. The kids just wanted to see how normal people shop. We may not pay his wife a salary but we are paying to feed and liquor up 5 adult children. It appears that no one in this family has any problem accepting gifts. The food and liquor went to the Gov's children so he didn't have to declare this gift either.
“While I’m the governor of Virginia, I try to . . . have a normal family life,” he said on WTOP. “And sometimes when you’re working in a normal family, things aren’t exactly pretty, whether you’re a governor or whether you’re a normal citizen. I try to be a normal citizen dad as much as possible. . . .
We’re normal people, and I’m proud to be the dad of five kids. I think I’ve got great kids. I’m blessed to have them. But you know, we are a normal family with all the ups and downs and pains and travails of any other normal family.”
Under Virginia law, elected officials may accept gifts of unlimited value if they disclose those worth more than $50. McDonnell did not report the wedding payment, but on the radio show, he stood by his contention that there was no need to do so because it was a gift to his daughter, not him. The law does not require gifts to immediate family members to be disclosed.
I'm the Gov. You can't bribe me. Leave the gifts with my wife or kids.
But McDonnell also acknowledged for the first time that the gift could “raise eyebrows,” as WTOP host Mark Lewis put it. Because the father of the bride often pays for weddings, Lewis said, “there’s a blurred line there as to who the real recipient of the gift was.”
“I do understand that,” McDonnell responded. Get over it, there's nothing you can do about it.
Asked whether he had any regrets and if in hindsight he wished the wedding payment had not been accepted, McDonnell said: “The decision really ultimately was my daughter’s. This whole thing is my daughter's fault. That’s hard to say in retrospect. Obviously, there’s been a lot of attention to that. It’s caused a fair amount of pain for me personally but I didn't do anything wrong.”
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