But prosecutors showed no interest, according to people familiar with the conversation. Instead, months later, authorities proposed that then-Gov. Robert F. McDonnell plead guilty to one felony fraud charge that had nothing to do with corruption in office and his wife would avoid charges altogether. The governor rejected the offer, the people with knowledge of the conversations said...
They are Republicans. They’ll never win in this country’s current “court” system. Too many DemocRAT activist “judges” out there. They should have taken the deal. JMO.
There would be a strong basis for pleading “not guilty”, if the former Governor had been Democrat. Chances are, even with a long and expensive trial, the defense would be so wizardly as to completely nullify and discredit even the most airtight case made by the prosecution, who, behind the scenes, was in on the fix.
But this is a Republican under fire here, and like the period before the French Revolution, it was never so much about the facts of the matter, as it was who could hold the higher cards in the bid and thus more effectively bribe the judiciary.
We have come to this, in which the majority party can effectively criminalize the actions of the members of the minority party, and stand to block any effective remedies in the courts.
The charges keep changing, from malfeasance of office and taking of bribes in exchange for political favor, to conspiracy, and to laundering money. Perhaps, in the course of actual events (not the ones pictured or made up by prosecution), some of this may have occurred. But the bogus charges are made with the same degree of serious intent as any that may have been founded in fact.
The rot has proceeded much further than anyone knows or would be willing to admit.
Are we in Whitewater/Cattlegate territory yet?