by James A. Bacon
Enough is enough. GiftGate has expanded beyond the point where there are reasonable explanations that Governor Bob McDonnell can offer for his behavior. The drip-drip-drip of revelations has steadily eroded my confidence since May, when I offered a lukewarm defense of the governor in “Still Looking for the Scandal.” Now there is little trust left to drain.
I defended McDonnell two months ago on the grounds that, yes, while the gifts bestowed by Star Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams, Sr., were unusual and the endorsement by First Lady Maureen McDonnell of Star’s dietary supplements unseemly, there was no evidence that McDonnell had done any special favors for Williams. At the time I did note, however, that I was more than willing to reappraise the situation if more substantive information turns up.
Well, more substantive information has turned up. While McDonnell still can cling to his argument that there was no quid pro quo, the latest story by the Washington Post prompts the question: If McDonnell wasn’t giving the Vitamin VIP special treatment, what the hell was going on?
Let us refresh our memories. Williams gave:
- $9,650 in gifts to McDonnell, including private plane trips and the use of a vacation house at Smith Mountain Lake. The governor listed these gifts in his personal disclosure forms.
- $15,000 to pay for catering at the June 2011 wedding of the governor’s daughter Cailin. McDonnell did not disclose that gift on the grounds that Cailin, not he, was the beneficiary.
- $10,000 to the governor’s daughter Jeanine to help defray costs at her May 2013 wedding.
- $15,000 to Maureen McDonnell to cover a New York shopping spree — apparently in Williams’ company — where she bought a suede Oscar de la Renta jacket, two pairs of designer shoes, a Louis Vuitton handbag and a designer dress. The gifts were not disclosed.
- $6,500 for a Rolex watch. McDonnell received the watch from wife Maureen but evaded questions as to whether he knew that it had been paid for by Williams. The gift was not disclosed.
- $70,000 to MoBo Real Estate Partners, a limited-liability partnership formed in 2005 by McDonnell and his sister, also named Maureen. McDonnell viewed the payment as a loan, which does not have to be disclosed, rather than a gift, which does.
- $50,000 to Maureen McDonnell in 2011, also described as a loan related to the real estate venture.
That amounts to more than $175,000. Who knows what else the ongoing investigation may turn up.
There are a number of issues here.
First is the trust issue. McDonnell has been less than forthcoming. He has clammed up tight, denying any impropriety, even as more and more information leaked out to the press. The lack of candor creates the impression — perhaps unfairly — that the governor has something to hide or, at the very least, that he finds the public revelation of the gifts to be embarrassing. Whatever his motives, he has lost the trust even of those, like me, inclined to trust him. My reaction now: What’s the next headline? What is there that we don’t know about?
Second, there is the what-the-hell-is-going-on issue. If Williams were plying McDonnell with personal favors in exchange for some special consideration from the governor, at least that’s something the public would understand — you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. But there is no evidence that such favors were exchanged. True, the McDonnells have helped raise the visibility of Star Scientific’s Anatabloc roll-out, but it can be argued that governors and first ladies routinely promote the products of Virginia businesses.
(The obvious question is this: Did the McDonnells circumvent normal protocols in assisting the Anatabloc roll-out? Lots of companies would like to get the governor to tout their products and services. What is the procedure for getting that done? Who are the gatekeepers? What boxes have to be checked off? Were the protocols adhered to in the case of Star Scientific? )
Star Scientific also has a tax dispute with the Commonwealth of Virginia. But that litigation is normally the purview of the Attorney General’s office, over which McDonnell has no authority. Of course, due to Williams’ involvement with Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the AG’s office has had to recuse itself from that case. As messy as the details appear, it’s not an area where McDonnell has, or even could have, intervened on Williams’ behalf.
Reserving the right to change my mind when new evidence presents itself, it appears that there was no quid pro quo. But that raises a whole new question. What kind of relationship exists between Williams and the McDonnell family? Whatever it is, no matter how close, it is not a normal relationship. Friends do not bestow $125,000 upon other friends, not even close friends. Friends also do not accept gifts of that magnitude. Most people hew to the ethic, “I can’t possibly accept a gift like that. I am not in a position to reciprocate. I would be indebted to you in a way that I feel I cannot repay.”
That’s what offends me about McDonnell’s behavior. Normal people just don’t act like that! Indeed, when you’re governor, you go overboard to avoid putting yourself in a position where you feel personally indebted to anyone because you never know what kind of favor might be asked. For all the differences I’ve had with his transportation policy, I always considered McDonnell to be a decent, upstanding individual. But I cannot understand how he would accept such gifts in good conscience.
It would be helpful to know more about Williams. A big Republican, he has cultivated friendships with other like-minded Virginia politicians. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, he personally gave $25,000 to the [Jerry] Kilgore for Governor campaign, and Star Scientific gave $101,000 more. Now Kilgore is Williams’ attorney. Star Scientific contributed $80,000 to McDonnell’s Opportunity Virginia PAC and $29,000 to his gubernatorial campaign. Interestingly, he has donated nothing to any of Cuccinelli’s campaigns, but he has given roughly $19,000 in gifts, primarily a box of food supplements and use of his lake house, including “Thanksgiving dinner and lodging” in 2010.
But the documented Cooch connection pales in comparison to the undocumented McDonnell connection, which apparently runs deep. According to the Washington Post (cited in the New York Times):
The first family of Virginia considers Mr. Williams and his wife, Celeste, “family friends.” The source of this deep friendship, The Post tells us, was a series of flights on Mr. Williams’ corporate jet during Mr. McDonnell’s 2009 campaign.
Until we understand the dynamics of that family friendship, we will never know what to make of GiftGate.
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