They Said That? 4/27/16

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, convicted of corruption, is asking the Supreme Court to throw out his federal conviction because everybody does it. According to The Wall Street Journal: “Current and former elected officials from both parties, along with aides and lobbyists familiar  with the way government works, have filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Mr. McDonnell, a Republican. From the Republican Governors Public Policy Committee brief:

Gov. McDonnell was convicted in part for taking actions that, in the main, are indistinguishable from actions that nearly every elected official in the U.S. takes nearly every day.

The Wall Street Journal, “Corruption Case in Spotlight,” 4/27/16

And what are those actions that are “indistinguishable from actions that nearly every elected official in the U.S. takes every day”? Mr. McDonnell and his wife accepted more than $177,000 in gifts and loans from an executive who wanted the governor to push state university researchers to produce studies that would help secure FDA approval for a dietary supplement. The executive bought McDonnell a $6,000 Rolex, took Mrs. McDonnell on $20,000 shopping spree, and paid $15,000 to cater the wedding of a McDonnell daughter.

Like the brief says, just average days in the life of a US politician. Everybody does it.