According to CNN.com Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is under investigation by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors for donations made to his gubernatorial campaign. The investigation has been going on for at least a year. From CNN:
As part of the probe, the officials said, investigators have scrutinized McAuliffe’s time as a board member of the Clinton Global Initiative, a vehicle of the charitable foundation set up by former President Bill Clinton…..Among the McAuliffe donations that drew the interest of the investigators was $120,000 from a Chinese businessman, Wang Wenliang, through his U.S. businesses. Wang was previously delegate to China’s National People’s Congress, the country’s ceremonial legislature.
Wang also donated $2 million to the Clinton Foundation. He is not considered a foreign national, which would make his contributions illegal, because he has permanent residency in the US.
Officials at the Justice department said the investigation into McAuliffe remains “active and ongoing”.
More here.
9 comments
So, where are the consequences? He will be forced to give the money back, no one goes to jail, nobody is happy, end of story?
The real question – what was the true source of the donations? Was the “Businessman” just a front for the Chineese government? Anyone remember Johnny Chung?
Accuse me of gross cynicism but these charges aren’t exactly breaking news as they and others regarding McAuliffe have been floating around in non MSM coverage and among political insiders for some time now. The whole Clinton Foundation cash flow transactions from paid speaking fees for political influence to selling off our national uranium deposits to a Putin buddy Russian oligarch has received fairly wide media coverage and was fully understood by the majority of Congress, so what has changed now?
My opinion is four things. First, Obama is totally focused and consumed on his lame duck world wide tour and attempting to patch the gaping holes in his administration’s future legacy. Two, his leftist packed political appointees in the DOJ and DHS have been largely abandoned, as he has milked all the political value out of them he can achieve in his remaining months in office. Third, the FBI has held onto (but not without considerable damage) the tatters of the professional law enforcement agency reputation it once had and seeing some daylight in the loosening of the DHS and DOJ strangle hold on it’s operations is anxious to more forward into the next administration with some semblance of a reputation. Finally, the tea leaves are being read along the Potomac by the political careerists and they see the likely possibility of a “Trumping” coming their way.
Like I stated up front cynical perhaps,but the situation reminds me of a ploy seen in Texas holdem called freerolling (a freeroll is an opportunity to play with no cost, yet there are still potential rewards) so the FBI may be laying their bets that there is no more Obama downside political bureaucratic risk or pressure involved for them, only upside and positive outcomes, so go for it. I hope I’m wrong but the timing is strange and a little too convenient.
I wonder if this will be front page news on the Washington Post every single day for a year like they did with Bob McDonnell?
I expected it to be front page news today, but it was shunted to the metro section.
It would be nice to see any politician who does not want to see campaign/PAC finance reform in jail. All of them.
Best news I’ve heard all day. When is he going to jail? Tables now turned on Dems.
This July 29, 2015 article from the Washington Post explains in more detail the unusual fundraising the FBI is looking at. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/scores-of-clinton-donors-pumped-millions-into-mcauliffe-coffers/2015/07/29/d6396064-1e99-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html
It’d be nice to see Crooked Terry leave office early. Everyone knows he’s a clinton money handler, and is doing his best to hand over Virginia’s electoral votes to his buddy Hillary.