Author: Peter Galuszka
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The Day The Guilty Verdicts Came In
By Peter Galuszka Day Three of waiting. The jokes in the tiny seventh floor media room of the U.S. District Court Building have grown stale. We’d discuss what the jury ate for lunch (Padows? Jimmie Johns?) which we could see as the trolley rolled through the security doors. We were amusing ourselves by reading a…
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It’s Oh, So Richmond!
By Peter Galuszka When I looked at my Richmond Times Dispatch, I was stunned. I couldn’t find a story that their wunderkind Congressman, Eric Cantor, the kind of Republican they love, had gotten a big deal job with Moelis & Co., a New York boutique investment bank. There was the story in the Wall Street…
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Why There Will be No Ethics Reform
By Peter Galuszka As the McDonnell corruption trial moves towards its end, the predictable stories are decrying – once again – Virginia’s absurdly lax ethics laws and why they must be toughened. There’s the usual observation that the five-week extravaganza of a trial that is drawing international attention will put the state on an entirely…
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A Confederacy of Cynics
By Peter Galuszka It was an odd scene. The first floor security point at Richmond’s federal court was filled with spiffy, middle aged blonde women all chattering loudly as the grandfatherly guards tried to herd them through. Some had so much bling, they had to go through the metal detector three times after removing yet…
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The View from Federal Court’s Media Room
By Peter Galuszka The media corps is just starting to amble into small room granted by the U.S. District Court, albeit with tight rules. No cell phone calls outside the cramped quarters in the hallways. No slouching in the corridor with your laptop on the floor hoping your cellphone hot spot still works. If you…
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Comparing Virginia’s First Ladies
By Peter Galuszka How does Maureen McDonnell define being Virginia’s first spouse? What does she say about other women who are or have been in her role? How does she compare with other First Ladies? Testimony in the federal corruption trial of Ms. McDonnell and her husband former Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has been highly…
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Bob McDonnell’s Big Decision
By Peter Galuszka It was a gubernatorial quandary only Virginia could have . In the summer of 2011, former Gov. Robert F. McDonnell was ready to take a few days off. He and his family had been going to Smith Mountain Lake, a popular destination near Roanoke with lots of golf courses and seven-figure lakeside…
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Maureen McDonnell and Sexism
By Peter Galuszka Sitting for hours listening to former Gov. Robert F. McDonnell testify in his federal corruption trial makes one wonder exactly what his values are, especially as they relate to women. His entire legal strategy is to “Throw Maureen Under the Bus” – namely his lawyers and those of his co-defendant wife Maureen…
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Is Pretentious Richmond Really Hooterville?
By Peter Galuszka Is Richmond really Hooterville? By golly gosh, that’s the impression that one might come away with after 14 days of testimony at the corruption trial of former Gov. Robert F. and Ms. Maureen McDonnell. Pretentious Richmond likes to see itself as a genteel and sophisticated historic relic with a Southern snob appeal…
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State Workers: GiftGate’s Unsung Heroes
By Peter Galuszka The McDonnell corruption trial, now going into its third week, is an enormously sad and tawdry affair bringing shame on the defendants and the prosecution’s key witness, businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr. Yet there are heroes — state employees. A number of them have testified over the past week that they sensed…
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Confessions of the Tic-Tac Man
By Peter Galuszka On afternoon last week, I was leaving the seventh floor courtroom at U.S. District Court after Judge James Spencer called for a break. Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the prosecution’s star witness against former Gov. and Ms. McDonnell, had been on the stand for hours, playing various roles as remorseful solicitor, confident businessman,…
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Cantor’s Self-Serving Special Election Scheme
By Peter Galuszka It looks like a small group of the Virginia Republicans elite has once again hatched a plot behind closed doors to manipulate elected politics without input from voters. U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, the victim of a surprising defeat in a June 10 Republican primary, has come up with a self-serving scheme to…
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Williams: How to Reach the High and Mighty
By Peter Galuszka The McDonnell corruption trial has its high and low moments. One theme stands out: the trial is a guidebook of how to gain broach and compromise the power elite of Virginia politicians, in this case the Republicans. Here are a few takeaways: Want to break in? Having a private jet is a…
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One Very Sad Day In Court
By Peter Galuszka One literally could have heard a pin drop in U.S. District Court in Richmond today. William Burck, lawyer for Maureen McDonnell, said in his opening argument in a trial that Virginia’s Former First Lady who has been indicted no 14 corruption charges along with her former governor husband was “collateral damage” in…
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The McDonnell Trial Gets Underway
By Peter Galuszka This morning marks the start of the long-awaited corruption trial for Robert F. McDonnell and his wife Maureen, the first ever involving the governor of a state that fancies itself above petty corruption. McDonnell, a Republican, faces 14 felony counts in federal court including wire fraud and lying on a federal loan…