Paul Goldman and I have a new piece online at the Washington Post and in it, we find we’re not alone in thinking the federal government has over-reached in its case against former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen:
Turns out, five former Virginia attorneys general agree with us. They filed a legal brief asking U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer to dismiss the first 11 of the 14 charges against the governor and former first lady.
As lawyers, they phrase their position differently than journalists would. But they concluded what we understood months ago: McDonnell’s behavior may have been unethical and even disgraceful. Yet he committed no crime — especially for a modern-day politician. Like it or not, a pay-to-play culture exists in our politics, condoned and accepted by those claiming to be reformers. As we noted in this space just a few days ago, Gov. Terry McAuliffe already demonstrated politically what the five former attorneys general have now explained legally.
This bipartisan collection of top Virginia lawyers point to a central truth about the McDonnell case: Without a smoking gun proving there was a quid-pro-quo – in this instance, McDonnell taking money in exchange for agreeing to carry out some “official act” to benefit former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams — all the government has is a governor doing what every chief executive in Virginia has been told is legal.
The McDonnells are not off the hook. Even should Judge Spencer agree with the former AGs and toss the bulk of the federal case against Bob and Maureen, they still face serious legal jeopardy and their shameful behavior in the Executive Mansion will stick to them forever.
But they need to be on the hook for the right thing.
