McDonnell: If I Am Guilty So Is OBAMA
Started by Sonia
After he and his wife were indicted on fourteen felony counts Tuesday, former Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell said that he was being charged based on a "misguided legal theory" that would implicate President Barack Obama and nearly every other elected official were it applied as the law of the land.
Appearing
with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law to address the media hours
after the indictment, McDonnell, who is the first Virginia governor to
face criminal charges and will be arraigned in Richmond Friday, said he
was "falsely accused," that his public service has been "wrongly
attacked," and that he would use all resources available to him to fight
what he said was an "unjust" federal overreach. According to the
Justice Department, if convicted on all the counts, both McDonnells
would face maximum prison sentences of 80 years and fines of over $1.25
million.
McDonnell said
he "deeply regrets" taking gifts from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie
Williams and noted that he "returned and repaid with interest" the
lavish gifts and loans, apologized for his poor judgment, and said that
he has accepted "full responsibility."
McDonnell then
said the United States Supreme Court has already rejected this radical
idea that "facilitating an introduction or a meeting, appearing at a
reception, or expressing support for a Virginia business is a federal
crime if it involves a political donor or someone who gave an official a
gift."
"If it were
applied as the law of the land, then nearly every elected official, from
President Obama on down, would have to be charged for providing
tangible benefit to donors," McDonnell said. "My administration provided
Mr. Williams the same routine courtesies and access to state government
that I and every other governor before me afforded to thousands of
individuals, companies, charities, and other organizations whether they
were donors or not."
McDonnell said
he "did nothing illegal for Mr. Williams in exchange for what I believed
was his personal friendship and his generosity." McDonnell said he
never promised anything to Williams, and Williams's company "never
received any government benefit" such as a contract, loan, regulation,
contract assignment, or "any other official state benefit." He said he
did not influence anyone to give Williams or his company a state benefit
or hide his friendship with Williams.
McDonnell's lawyers made a similar argument in a motion filed before McDonnell's press conference.
"Politics is
replete with examples of major benefactors receiving more substantial
government benefits than anything suggested here," McDonnell's lawyers
wrote in a motion filed Tuesday. "The President routinely participates
in corporate events which lend credibility to his major benefactors,
invites benefactors to events at the White House, allows his photo to be
taken with benefactors, and includes benefactors in policy discussions
with senior administration officials. Likewise, Governor McDonnell’s
predecessor, Governor Kaine, took thousands of dollars in gifts during
his time in office, while often taking actions to help those
benefactors."
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