A Few Thoughts on Week One of the McDonnell Trial

Johnnie Williams' Smith Mountain Lake Vacation Home

It has been a sad and sordid week in Richmond.  My General Assembly Office overlooks the Federal Courthouse.  I'm glad I'm not there to see this depressing spectacle in person.  A few initial thoughts.  

First, this trial is highlighting some of the worst parts of the political system in Virginia.  The talk about a New York shopping trip, $5,000 bottles of cognac, free yard work, requesting free Land Rovers for children, Ferarris and rolexes, free golf equipment, no interest $120,000 and $50,000 loans, covered wedding receptions, and $10,000 wedding gifts has not been pretty.  

Johnnie Williams unabashedly asserting that he gave money and gifts to gain "access" and legitimize his company and its product only serves to reinforce the most pessimistic assumptions that many Virginians hold about politicians and donors that government is for sale.  Not every donor is looking for "access" or something in return for their contribution.  Some donors, mainly individuals, contribute because of their interest in public policy issues or over-arching government philosophies.  However, this trial - no matter what the outcome - will only serve to further undermine public confidence in government.

This trial only reiterates the need for actual ethics and campaign finance reform in the Virginia, and the problems created by the Citizen's United ruling and its progeny.  

Weekly Column: 2014 Session Focuses on Ethics, Medicaid and U.S. 1

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of January 12, 2014.

2014 Session Focuses on Ethics, Medicaid and U.S. 1

On January 8, 2014 ,the 2014 General Assembly Session was gavelled into session and I took my third oath of office. 

The biggest issues on the horizon right now are ethics reform and the expansion of Medicaid.  Governor McDonnell’s problems over the last twelve months have shown a spotlight on Virginia’s inadequate gift, disclosure, and campaign finance law. 

Two months ago, I wrote a column with six changes that are critical including reporting gifts and transactions between special interests and elected officials’ family members and businesses, caps on gifts to elected officials including local government officials, campaign contributions limits, disclosure of all activity during twelve month periods, restrictions on spending campaign money on personal expenses, and creating an independent ethics commission with audit and enforcement powers.

Weekly Column: Cleaning Up Virginia’s Ethics and Disclosure Laws

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of August 12, 2013.

Cleaning Up Virginia’s Ethics and Disclosure Laws

Media reports of Governor Bob McDonnell accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of “gifts” and loans have provoked discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of Virginia’s ethics laws. Some have called for a special session of the state legislature.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is requesting a special session after he failed to report his only stock holding – Star Scientific – and $18,000 in gifts from Star Scientific head Jonnie Williams, including a lake house vacation  and a catered Thanksgiving dinner. Another state delegate has echoed that call after his undisclosed trip to Taiwan was reported by the media.

We will be back in session in four months. While a special session to consider the Governor’s impeachment should be on the table, a special session four months before regular session focused on a series of interrelated complex new laws to be considered by a lame duck governor distracted by a federal criminal ethics investigation would not be productive. The General Assembly can thoroughly debate and decide appropriate ethics reforms in the normal 60-day session starting in January when the process can be more deliberative and the public can be involved more easily.

Here is what should be on the table for 2014:

To Give and To Receive

There's been a lot of talk in Virginia lately about gifts with a lot of political-types saying that these gifts don't affect their judgment. That doesn't ring true for most ordinary people. Here's why.

One study found that when a waiter left candy with the check, the amount of the tip went up on average. When the waiter left the candy and told the patron that I threw some candy in there for you, it went even further up. Likewise, many nonprofits include address labels, calendars, or other items with their fundraising appeals. Responses go up when you give a gift.

There has been significant research into how gift stratgies are hard wired into our human brain reward pathways. Some researchers see human responses to gift giving and receiving as part of successful survival strategies that out-competed others through evolution. On an abstract level this is referred to as the norm of Reciprocity. Take this from Wikipedia:

New Opinion Highlights Virginia Campaign Finance Loopholes

In Virginia, General Assembly members and statewide officeholders are prohibited from fundraising during session.  The main purpose of this is so that decision-makers cannot press groups for campaign contributions while legislation and votes are pending like they can in Congress.  In theory, it also cuts down on grandstanding during session where leaders can pick fights on issues just to get press and raise money.  Most people think this prohibition is a good thing.

Jeff Schapiro with the Richmond Times Dispatch has a column in today's paper in which he said.

The Republican nominee for governor may have a new objective, though he doesn’t seem to be telling many people: Scuttling Virginia’s 16-year-old ban on campaign fundraising during the annual legislative session.

I hope that's not the case. 

Back in 2012, a state senator from Virginia Beach was interested in hosting a Romney fundraiser during our session.  Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an Attorney General's Opinion holding that the statutory prohibition on General Assembly and Statewide Officeholders fundraising during session did not apply to solicitations on behalf of presidential candidates.  In 2010, he had issued a previous opinion giving a sitting state senator the green light to raise money to run for Congress.  He ended up winning. 

Interviews Regarding Call for Resignation

Here are two interviews I recently gave regarding my call for Governor McDonnell to step down.

This is my interview on The John Fredericks Show.



I was also interviewed on Fox 5 which you can watch here.  DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

It's Time to Move On Governor McDonnell

The Virginia Governor's Mansion, Built in 1813

Over 237 years ago, a handful of Virginia’s leaders put their lives on the line to declare the independence of the Commonwealth of Virginia and start a new Democratic experiment in the East Coast wilderness. 

Since that time, Virginia has seen seventy-one Governors.  They included men like Patrick Henry and future presidents such as Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler.

Only two Virginia Governors have not finished their terms voluntarily.  John Tyler resigned when he was elected to the U.S. Senate and George Smith died at the end of the first year of his term.  No Governor has ever resigned in scandal – ever.

Other states have not been as fortunate.  Illinois has lost four of their last seven Governors to felony indictments.  North Carolina’s ex-governor was convicted of a felony relating to failure to properly disclose a helicopter ride in 2010.  Alabama’s Governor was just released from prison this year after being indicted in 2006.