WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) — Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell goes before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to ask the court to overturn his federal corruption conviction.
McDonnell’s lawyer is expected to argue that federal corruption laws are too broad and should not apply in this case.
A federal judge sentenced McDonnell, 61, to two years in prison in January 2015 after a jury found him and his wife guilty of accepting several thousand dollars’ worth of gifts and loans from businessmen Jonnie Williams Sr. for promoting his company as governor.
McDonnell admits that he accepted more than $170,000 in gifts, loans and vacations, but says he didn’t violate federal law because his actions were merely routine courtesies.
“The government’s interpretation of the statute is so broad that almost any major politician could be prosecuted. And of course they’re not,” John Jeffries, a University of Virginia law professor who is among legal experts who signed a brief backing McDonnell’s legal arguments, told The Virginian-Pilot.
“It is unmistakably sleazy,” Jeffries said. “I have not heard anyone who defends his conduct.”
McDonnnell’s conviction on 11 counts was upheld by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July.
McDonnell, who was governor from 2010-14, is backed by other politicians from both parties and lobbyists with friend-of-court briefs.
“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 Republican Governors Public Policy Committee said in a brief.
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