The investigation into allegations of public corruption against RPV Executive Director and former Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors Chairman Shaun Kenney ended today following a determination of no wrongdoing by the Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
In a two page letter and 13 page legal memorandum that reviewed all of the evidence accumulated in the months long investigation of Kenney, Fauquier CA James Fisher stated that “Mr. Kenney’s conduct has in no way violated any provisions of the laws of the Commonwealth, criminal or otherwise,” and closed their file on the investigation without taking further action.
While I would love to see Steve Waters, Jeanine Martin, Jamie Radtke, Chris LaCivita, Ken Cuccinelli, Tom Garrett and others who raised questions over Shaun’s fitness for the ED job because of this investigation (and other nonsense, like false claims he was on Eric Cantor’s payroll and the like) apologize for what they wrote, I won’t hold my breath.
And, unfortunately, Julian Walker is no longer with the Virginian-Pilot, so a follow up to the piece he wrote in May isn’t possible. Hopefully Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post will do a follow up to her piece on the issue.
What happened here to Shaun is just another part of the downside to being in public office. No matter who you are, what you do or what role you’re in, you become a target for somebody. And it’s sad to see the lengths that some people will go to destroy their enemies. Shaun has made a lot of enemies over his time in Virginia politics, but so has anybody who has ever stood up for something. What I find most frustrating was that so many people who should have known better were willing to throw mud at Shaun instead of waiting for the results of the investigation – results which now demonstrate what he, I and others who had been defending him already knew. He did nothing wrong.
I hope this will give some of the chattering class in Virginia politics pause before the start making ridiculous assertions about good people. I’m truly tired of watching as my friends get torn down by the politics of personal destruction. Perhaps those who were so quick to judge in the past will think twice before assuming everything they read in the papers is true.
Here’s the letter and memo. My Scribd account is getting a workout today.
