In the wake of the McDonnell trial verdict, some have speculated [1] that the jury, in effect, created its own total gift ban for members of the General Assembly and the executive branch.
That’s open to interpretation. However, it does raise some very interesting questions for people like Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Back in March, Paul Goldman and I wrote in the Washington Post [2] about a fundraising appeal McAuliffe’s new PAC sent to a select group of donors. It included a set of benefits as well as a price list [3]:
McAuliffe PAC Announcement for High Dollar Donors [4]
The key difference in what McAuliffe asked for and what the McDonnells received from Jonnie Williams is where the money went. For McAuliffe, it went to his PAC — which is legal. Jonnie Williams’ money and gaudy baubles went to the McDonnells directly. The jury decided this was straight-up corruption under federal law.
So think long and hard before you accept that foreign trip, Mr. Delegate. And better hesitate for a good long while before accepting those Redskins tickets, Madame Senator. Otherwise, you may be setting your own date with a federal prosecutor.
But does the verdict go farther? Will it also put the brakes on fundraising activities like those for McAuliffe’s PAC and any other entity that puts a price tag next to a list of benefits? That’s now a question every elected official, lobbyist, party leader and interest group in Virginia has to consider very carefully. And what may guide their thinking is how the Department of Justice made it clear [5] that it will go after “corruption in any form, at any level of government.”
Sounds not only like a total gift ban to me, but potentially much more.