Transparency News 1/23/14

Less than 24 hours after former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged with violating federal corruption laws, aHouse panel began molding numerous reform proposals into one piece of legislation meant to tighten the state’s ethics laws. The House Courts of Justice subcommittee on ethics on Wednesday expanded a proposed $250 cap per item on gifts from lobbyists to include gifts from others who have business before the state. The panel also fine-tuned the definition of “friend,” proposing that the gift threshold also apply when lawmakers receive gifts from lobbyists they have privately known for a long time. Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, the committee chairman, called Wednesday’s meeting a first step toward crafting new legislation. “We are listening to every single delegate about their ideas of what they want to see in an ethics bill. And then we’re going to see which ideas we like and start lawyering it up,” Albo said before the meeting, adding that he expected “hours of excruciating legal mumbo-jumbo.”
Times-Dispatch

Former governor Robert F. McDonnell has the moral support of many Republicans and Democrats in the aftermath of his indictment. Their financial support is less certain. One day after federal prosecutors charged the Republican and his wife, Maureen, in connection with more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from a wealthy businessman, some leading legislators stepped forward Wednesday to say that they think he did not break the law. But at least publicly, that support has not translated into donations to his legal defense fund.
Washington Post

Prosecutors laid out a startling corruption case against former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, but the government faces a high bar in proving that the couple committed a crime, legal experts said Wednesday. To make its case, the government must show beyond a reasonable doubt that McDonnell (with wife Maureen as co-conspirator) struck a corrupt bargain with a Richmond businessman who lavished the McDonnell family with $165,000 in cash and gifts. They must deliver evidence that the former governor agreed to provide his official help to Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie R. Williams in exchange for his largesse. Many legal experts said Wednesday that the coming criminal trial is likely to serve as an important test of the line between political favors and official state action.
Washington Post

Former Gov. Bob McDonnell fired back Wednesday at prosecutors who filed corruption charges against him and his wife, Maureen, with heavy hints that the federal case is politically motivated. And, his lawyers argued, President Barack Obama would be just as guilty of corruption if federal prosecutors applied the same standards to him.
Daily Press

Some criminal defense lawyers believe the federal corruption indictment against former Gov. Bob McDonnell may largely hinge on what prosecutors can or cannot prove about his intent. Others also believe there is a legal question about whether the government has gone too far in alleging fraud. “The whole case will come down to intent. It is not a crime to accept a gift from somebody. It is not a crime to accept a gift from somebody who does business with the state,” said Barry Pollack, a Washington lawyer.
Roanoke Times

With ‘Virginia Way,’ State Thought It Didn’t Need Rules
New York Times

A man was removed from a Wednesday morning meeting of the Henrico County Planning Commission and charged with disorderly conduct, officials said. The man was upset by a proposal that will allow development of a parcel that borders one owned by a relative of the man, said Planning Department Director R. Joseph Emerson Jr., who was at the meeting. Williams stood up and made comments during the time allotted for the public to speak, Emerson said, but as the meeting continued, he kept making disruptive comments. The man was asked to contain himself “on numerous different occasions,” he said. As the commission prepared to vote to allow the construction, Williams stood up and started making comments in a way that disrupted the meeting, Emerson said. The commission’s chairman asked Williams to follow the meeting’s rules and maintain decorum, adding that his comments had been heard and taken into account, but the man did not comply, Emerson said.
Times-Dispatch

National Stories

The attorney for former New Orleans Affordable Homeownership Director Stacey Jackson is seeking private information from NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune about two anonymous online commenters. U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Wilkinson granted a request Tuesday (Jan. 21) from Jackson, who faces federal corruption charges, to subpoena NOLA Media Group for information related to two specific online handles, "aircheck" and "jammer1954," including names, addresses and phone numbers. It is the news organization's usual policy to keep such information private to the extent possible.
Times-Picayune

The Craig Daily Press (Craig, Colo.) recently looked into a possible violation of Colorado Sunshine Law following a meeting about sage grouse conservation. The meeting, which took place at American Legion Post 62 following Tuesday’s tour of Moffat County land by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, was closed off to Daily Press government reporter Erin Fenner. Fenner said she was “under the impression” the meeting was open to the public and was therefore open to the press. A man present whom Fenner believed to be representing Sec. Jewell told Fenner the meeting was closed by a request from Jewell.
Craig Daily Press

Twice he’s tried and twice he’s come close to seeing reform in the state’s public record laws. But South Carolina state Rep. Bill Taylor says the insistence by some state lawmakers that revising the S.C. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) be expanded to include legislative correspondence has been the “poison pill” to meaningful reform. “My crystal ball is broken,” Taylor said. “I have no idea whether we will get this across the finish line.” In an attempt to accomplish that, the Greenville Republican has introduced House Bill 3163, which includes several provisions improving the public’s access to public records.
My Horry News

The way the FOIA works is reactive. Arkansans can't access a public record without asking the custodian of the record for it. That was a sensible system in 1967, when Arkansas's FOIA law was passed and when most requests were fulfilled by pulling documents from file cabinets. But we live in wholly different era today, where most government actions or interactions — from a 311 call to fix a pothole to a campaign-finance disclosure — are (or should be) stored digitally in a database. That puts us in position to move from a reactive system to a proactive one. The state of Arkansas and our biggest municipalities should build on the state's FOIA law and adopt comprehensive open data policies. All public records, save those that would violate privacy laws or undermine security, should be proactively made available to the public for free on the Internet in a structured, sortable, downloadable format.
Arkansas Times
 

Editorials/Columns

Times-Dispatch: Former Gov. Bob McDonnell concedes his lapses in judgment in the Giftgate scandal yet insists he broke no laws. The courts will decide. If the case goes to trial, prosecution and defense will present their arguments. Conviction or acquittal will follow. At this stage a definitive decision would be not only premature but irresponsible.

Free Lance-Star: Under Virginia’s “trust me” ethics laws, it is not easy for a public servant to get indicted. We do, according to the Center for Public Integrity, rank 48th nationally when it comes to keeping a sharp eye on our government officials. Congratulations, Bob and Maureen McDonnell. Come on down. With the aid of a federal grand jury, you’ve taken the commonwealth to a new, subterranean level, a purgatory shared with Maryland, Illinois, Louisiana and other states we used to laugh at as their leaders were hauled into court and later led away to the big house. The McDonnells’ defense team has sprung into action already. It claims that the access given entrepreneur Jonnie R. Williams Sr. was not criminal. It says grand jury testimony was given in exchange for under-the-table promises to some who otherwise might be indicted themselves. The courts will sort that out, but the charges are somewhat depressing for fans of above-board government.

Roanoke Times: The former governor is an attorney, a career public servant and a former lawmaker, but even students at the schools he once so thoughtlessly slapped with Fs can understand that his actions were wrong. Federal prosecutors accuse the McDonnells not just of accepting designer clothing, a Rolex watch and the loan of a Ferrari, but of demanding, even pestering, businessman Jonnie Williams Sr. for those favors. Further, the indictment details the McDonnells' solicitation of $100,000 in loans from Williams to help them escape from a financial mess they created with credit card debt and the purchase of beach houses. According to the prosecutors, the sitting governor at the time suggested the terms of one loan himself. McDonnell's statement that "I did nothing illegal for Mr. Williams" alludes to his likely defense, that he provided no grants or incentives for Williams' company. But if McDonnell knew Williams anticipated favors in return, that alone should have been enough to sever contact. Instead, prosecutors contend the McDonnells assisted Williams by hosting a party at the executive mansion for the launch of his company's dietary supplement, and arranging access to a state health official and scientists from the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University, whom the businessman apparently hoped would help him obtain research funding.

Daily Progress: It’s well to recall at this point that an indictment is not a conviction. Mr. and Mrs. McDonnell are innocent unless and until they are found guilty in a court of law. And a court might indeed find them to be innocent. But at the very least, the McDonnells’ dealings with Mr. Williams were naïve, if not downright dim-witted. Mr. McDonnell should have perceived that such a cozy relationship with someone seeking to do business with the state could lead to trouble — at least, to questions about the relationship and resultant damage to his reputation. And recall, too, that Mr. McDonnell previously had been the state’s attorney general. As Virginia’s lead lawyer, he should have been well aware of conflict-of-interest law and the expectation of high ethical conduct.

David Hudson, Star-Exponent: A recent California appeals court decision ruled that rapper Rick Ross did not violate the publicity rights of former criminal Ricky D. Ross, also known as “Freeway” Rick Ross, a former kingpin of a cocaine empire. This ruling is a positive development for artistic freedom and freedom of speech. William Leonard Roberts II, better known by his stage name, Rick Ross, is one of the most popular hip-hop stars in recent years. But in 2010, Roberts faced a lawsuit from the real Rick Ross, a former drug dealer. Ricky D. Ross asserted that the rapper violated his publicity rights by misappropriating his name for financial gain.