Category: Politics
-
The Beat Goes On…
Testimony continued yesterday in the Maureen and Bob McDonnell corruption trial as the prosecution brought more witnesses to the stand. There were no major revelations but trial junkies were treated to a number of small but telling details. Snake oil. We’ve known from the beginning that Bill Hazel, former governor McDonnell’s secretary of health and human…
-
Out of Control
by James A. Bacon With each new day of testimony, the trial of Maureen and Bob McDonnell is becoming more a trial of Maureen and less a trial of Bob. There was abundant evidence in previous testimony that the former first lady was out of control, sending members of the former governor’s staff scrambling to rein in inappropriate…
-
The Damage-Control Patrol
by James A. Bacon In New Jersey’s Bridge-gate scandal, Governor Chris Christie was cursed (if you believe his story) by underlings who made bad decisions that landed him in political hot water. In Virginia’s Gift-gate scandal, former Governor Bob McDonnell was blessed by underlings whose advice and actions kept him out of trouble — at least in those…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
Elections have consequences
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y9oVC-mGW8?rel=0] by D.J. Rippert What a difference two years make. In the run up to the 2012 election Barack Obama and Mitt Romney debated foreign affairs. Obama had recently been caught making an offhand comment over an open mike to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Obama promised the Russian that he (Obama) would have “more…
-
From Sordid to Squalid
by James A. Bacon A sordid tale grew even more squalid yesterday as Jonnie Williams Sr., the star witness against Maureen and Bob McDonnell, spent the day on the witness stand. Williams, the former CEO of vitamin-supplement maker Star Scientific, declaimed that, despite all the time he had spent with them and gifts he had lavished…
-
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…
-
Jonnie Williams: “This Was a Business Relationship”
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s best soap opera in 20 years continued yesterday as Jonnie R. Williams, Sr., the star witness in the prosecution of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen, took the witness stand. Williams added little new substance to the public record that wasn’t listed in the indictments but he did flesh out a…
-
Misery in High Places
In his post on the McDonnell trial, Peter Galuszka asked a profound question (something I don’t normally give him credit for!). Does living in the fishbowl of the Governor’s Mansion, with all the attendant pressure, put incalculable strain on a governor’s domestic life? “What should ‘public service’ be and how much should it take from one’s…
-
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…
-
Diet Denier
Perhaps you could call Nina Teicholz a “diet denier.” The journalist and author of “The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Health Diet,” is part of the growing backlash against a half century-long orthodoxy that aimed to limit fat and cholesterol in the American diet. That orthodoxy, which ruled the medical establishment and the…
-
Virginia’s Trial of the Decade
by James A. Bacon Jury selection for the trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen begins today. The 43-page federal indictment against the former First Family piles up a mass of detail to present a devastating portrait. Particularly damaging are revelations that the McDonnells intervened behind the scenes to help their friend and…
-
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…
-
Tim Kaine Versus the Mole People
The Silver Line extending the Washington Metro to Tysons is scheduled to open Saturday, and people are getting excited about the impending event. Mass transit supporters are hailing the momentous achievement, which provides the impetus to transform Virginia’s largest business district into a more balanced, livable and walkable community. Indeed, there is much to celebrate. But others are…