Not Celebrating the McDonnells' Conviction

McDonnell (center) and his ex-Roanoker lawyer John Brownlee*.

The conviction of former Gov. Bob McConnell and his wife Maureen on 20 of 33 charges against them comes as a mild surprise to me. McDonnell will face sentencing on on 11 of 13 counts and Maureen will have to answer to 9 of 13. McDonnell is the first former Virginia governor to be convicted of a felony.

Both of them cried as the verdicts were read, as you would expect. This has been a fall of Shakespearean proportion for a man who was talked about as a vice presidential candidate only recently.

Here's the breakdown on the jury's decision, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch (here):

• On Count One, both McDonnells were convicted of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
• On counts two and three, both McDonnells were convicted of honest-services wire fraud.
• On count four, Bob McDonnell was convicted of honest-services wire fraud, but Maureen McDonnell was found not guilty.
• On count five, both McDonnells were convicted of conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right.
• On counts six through eight, both McDonnells were convicted of obtaining property under color of official right.
• On count nine, Bob McDonnell was convicted of obtaining property under color of official right, but Maureen McDonnell was found not guilty.
• On count 10, both McDonnells were convicted of obtaining property under color of official right.
• On count 11, Bob McDonnell was convicted of obtaining property under color of official right, but Maureen McDonnell was found not guilty.
• On count 12, Bob McDonnell was found not guilty of making a false statement on a financial document.
• On count 13 both McDonnells were found not guilty of making a false statement on a financial document.
• On count 14, Maureen McDonnell was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding.

As much as I oppose what McDonnell stands for politically, I am not without sympathy that his fairytale world has become a living hell. I think both McDonnells were naive and totally unprepared for the meat grinder that is Richmond (and every other state capital, as well as D.C.).

McDonnell's political career--and perhaps his marriage--is over and my guess is that even Liberty University will not want to continue to employ him (if he doesn't go to jail) in its Helms School of Government, unless he comes up with a class that would be more suitable to a convicted felon. And, of course, Liberty seems friendly with felons these days (see previous blog post).

(See blog post about Brownlee here.)

(Photo: watchdog.org.)