Let the McDonnell circus begin (Updated)

That weird sound political junkies heard this morning was all the oxygen, and probably other atmospheric gasses, being sucked from the air as jury selection in the corruption trial of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, gets underway in Richmond:

Just how excited is the press over this? Consider the prose in this RTD piece:

Observers say that not since the 1807 treason trial of former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr or the 1867 arraignment of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis has Richmond hosted a legal and political spectacle to match that of United States of America v. Robert F. and Maureen G. McDonnell.

The six-week trial, which has a VIP cast of characters and the potential for drama, starts this morning with the crucial but normally mundane task of selecting a jury.

I’m fairly sure Mr. McDonnell never thought his name would appear in the same sentence as Burr and Davis…both of who faced treason charges. Then again, McDonnell never imagined that his aggressive embrace of Virginia’s pay-for-play political culture would land him before a federal judge.

We’ve been teased that former AG Ken Cuccinelli has been subpoenaed to testify in the trial. Which could be very interesting, considering the less than friendly political history between the two men. Based on that history, one wag suggested to me Cuccinelli would be a witness for the prosecution. I doubt that. But also considering some of the knives Cuccinelli has unsheathed since his November defeat, anything is possible.

The star of the show, however, will be former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams, who has been granted transactional immunity for his testimony. As my Washington Post writing partner Paul Goldman noted, such a deal is “seldom granted” and it means the “…government promised not to prosecute him for crimes even if the prosecution already had persuasive evidence of guilt.”

Usually, one has to be willing to rat out the mob to get such a deal.

There is one potential winner from the coming circus: Mark Warner.

With media attention fixed on McDonnell’s trial (which will be spun as a GOP corruption trial), it will be very hard for sideshows like a Senate campaign to get the press’s attention. Good news for an incumbent who appears to have had a rocky debate performance over the weekend (not that many people saw the debate).

Update

The McDonnell defense team has released its list of witnesses and it’s a doozy.

Bob McDonnell will take the stand. So will Maureen, and their children.

And yes, Ken Cuccinelli is there. But so, too, are Doug Wilder and Bill Howell.

And both Jonnie Williams, Jr. and Sr.

This trial just went from circus to Circus Maximus.

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