Transparency News 4/4/14

Federal prosecutors are opposing a request by attorneys for former Gov. Bob McDonnell to keep private some information supporting their motion to separate the trials of McDonnell and his wife. McDonnell’s attorneys say the declarations contain confidential information that would reveal elements of the defense’s trial strategy — giving an unfair advantage to the government if it had access to them. In a filing in March, McDonnell’s attorneys argued that Maureen McDonnell’s testimony would rebut the federal government’s allegation that the McDonnells conspired to use the state’s highest public office to assist Jonnie R. Williams Sr., who was then the CEO of the dietary supplement company Star Scientific Inc., in exchange for gifts and loans.
Times-Dispatch

Former Gov. Gerald L. Baliles is stepping down at the end of the year as head of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs. Baliles, who has headed the center for the last eight years, announced the move Thursday. Baliles, who was unavailable for comment, told the university’s media relations office he plans to take some time off “to reflect and perhaps write about the many steps and facets of my work in public office, private practice and academia through the decades.”
Daily Progress

Virginia Commonwealth University has unveiled a collection of photographs taken during the 1963 civil rights protests in Farmville. VCU says about 270 photographs have been posted online. The Freedom Now Project seeks the public’s help in learning details about the demonstrators, protests and the town’s response. VCU Libraries digital archivist Alice Campbell says the project hopes to reach a wide audience.
News Leader

As spring harkens, some of Loudoun's smallest towns, located in the western corridor of the county, prepare for town elections to select respective mayors and town council members. Each town council wields power to determine town policies, including planning and zoning, construction, budgets and events, for areas within the town corporate limits. But in three towns, there's a noticeable shortage in candidates. Purcellville and Lovettsville are competitive elections. Two people are vying for mayor and four for three council spots in Purcellville. Four people are battling for three council spots in Lovettsville.  But Middleburg, Hamilton and Round Hill don't have enough candidates to fill vacant seats. 
Loudoun Times-Mirror

National Stories

A publicly owned utility cannot withhold a ratepayer's home address and is required to release the information under Arkansas' open records law, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Justices reversed and remanded a Monroe County judge's decision that the Brinkley Water and Sewer Department was not required to disclose a municipal ratepayer's home address under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. The utility had argued that it "defies logic" that public employees' home addresses are exempt from release under FOIA but not public utilities' ratepayers. The court dismissed that argument, saying such an exception for ratepayers isn't currently in the law.
The Republic

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee voted on Thursday to declassify its long-awaited report on the CIA's use of brutal interrogation methods that critics say amount to torture. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who chairs the committee, said the vote was 11-3 to declassify what she called the "shocking" results of investigating the Central Intelligence Agency practices under Republican President George W. Bush. The vote to lift the blackout on the summary and recommendations of the 6,200-page report follows an unprecedented clash by Feinstein with the CIA, and would give the world its first official look at its regimen of interrogation and detentions in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
Reuters
 

Editorials/Columns

Let's face it, fundraising PACs (and before them, campaign staffs) have been implicitly offering that deal for as long as anyone can remember. So the biggest sin committed by Common Ground VA – hereinafter known as T-Mac's PAC – was being too honest about the relationship between big money and big politics. Truth is, we were half-thinking of giving T-Mac's PAC our Open Door Award for this month, as a reward for giving voters the clearest picture possible of "your government in action." But (a.) the Open Door Award isn't until later in the month, and (b.) that would be a little too snarky even for us.
Daily Press

March 16 through March 22 was recognized in Virginia as “Sunshine Week.” This kind of sunshine had nothing to do with the meteorological vagaries of our long-running winter. And to be honest, not everyone celebrated, especially those in public office who would like to keep their dealings secret from the public. “Sunshine Week” recognizes the importance of the Freedom of Information Act in allowing the public to obtain information under FOIA. And that’s an important issue any time of year. It’s worth noting that most news organizations, including this one, are representing you, the public. We have no greater rights or privileges in obtaining information from lawmakers than do you. The only difference is that we often are in a better position to obtain information by virtue of our trained reporting staff and long-time experience in dealing with public officials.
Fairfax Times

The U.S. Justice Department's case against former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, took a couple of hits Wednesday. A U.S. Supreme Court decision, combined with a bipartisan brief in support of the dismissal of charges against the couple, further weakened the already weak argument that the McDonnells engaged in political corruption. Buried in its decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, in which the court held that aggregate donations by wealthy individuals cannot be limited, was this tidbit: "government regulation may not target the general gratitude a candidate may feel toward those who support him or his allies, or the political access such support may afford." Paraphrasing its earlier Citizens United ruling, the court wrote, "Ingratiation and access… are not corruption." It's a pretty safe bet that the McDonnells' lawyers will cite this decision in their upcoming trial.
Vivian Paige, Virginian-Pilot

America’s favorite power broker will now have a new role in the way that candidates get elected to federal office. Following the precedent they had already set in eroding our nation’s election laws, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted the limit on total federal campaign donations an individual can make over a two-year period to candidates or political party committees. National news outlets like the New York Times reported that the decision did not affect the $2,600 base limit in place for donations from individuals to candidates, but targeted instead the $48,600 two-year cap for total contributions to candidates and the $74,600 limit to political parties. Limiting donations on that scale violated the First Amendment, a majority of the Supreme Court’s more conservative justices concluded when ruling in favor of Alabama businessman Shaun McCutcheon and the Republican National Committee.
Herald-Progress