What’s a crime when everything is illegal and nothing is? That’s what lawyers for former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell are arguing at the Supreme Court:
McDonnell’s lawyers will tell the court that the acts that caused a jury to convict him of 11 counts of political corruption and a judge to sentence him to two years in prison are indistinguishable from the favors politicians regularly provide in exchange for gifts and campaign contributions.
“Officials routinely arrange meetings for donors, take their calls, politely listen to their ideas, and refer them to aides,” McDonnell’s lawyer Noel Francisco said in his brief to the court.
“In criminalizing those everyday acts, the government has put every federal, state, and local official nationwide in its prosecutorial crosshairs.”
Take the politics out of money and the money will dry up from politics all on its own.
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