DOJ moves to dismiss case against McDonnell

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen will not be retried for corruption and fraud charges, after Department of Justice prosecutors moved this afternoon to dismiss the indictment. The Washington Post, the Hill and the National Law Journal (sub. req.) have stories. Among the gifts were a Rolex watch, $20,000 worth of designer clothes for McDonnell’s wife, Maureen, and the use of a country club, a vacation home, and a Ferrari sports vehicle. Geoff Skelley at the University of Virginia Center for Politics says it’s good news for McDonnell but not great news.

“I think the Supreme Court case made it pretty clear that the government would have an uphill battle if it attempted to retry the case”, he said.

The businessman wrote checks to help McDonnell pay credit card and real estate debts and cover the cost of catering his daughter’s wedding.

McDonnell has said he never took any official action to benefit Star Scientific Inc. Bob McDonnell answers reporters questions as he leaves the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals after a hearing the appeal of his corruption conviction in Richmond, Va. Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe has also questioned the need for another case. Bob McDonnell called Thursday a day of vindication and thanksgiving.

“Even with the court’s unfortunate decision, the Justice Department had a chance to show it was not deterred and to build on aggressive precedent set by the conviction of then-Congressman (Chaka) Fattah and other recent prosecutions”, Bookbinder said. “This man has paid the price”. A federal appeals court put her case on hold until the Supreme Court examined her husband’s case.

He noted that at trial, the government’s case was that McDonnell set up the meetings, but that he left it to the appropriate government decision makers to decide whether or not to provide Williams with the business opportunities he was seeking.

He said prosecutors were “incredibly aggressive” in bringing a case given the apparent absence of overt official acts taken by McDonnell on Williams’ behalf.

“The prosecutors are saying they didn’t even find arranging meetings with officials to be an example of a quid pro quo”, Kidd said, referring to the charge that McDonnell arranging a meeting with top state health officials for Williams after receiving some of the gifts.

They went on to praise DOJ for dismissing the case.

The decision was criticized by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a corruption watchdog group.

“The decision not to prosecute vindicates those who believed all along that this case was an inappropriate extension of the bribery and gratuity statute”, Frenkel said, referring to the case as an instance of “prosecutorial overreaching”.