Federal prosecutors will drop case against former Virginia governor after SCOTUS loss
Federal prosecutors said on Thursday that they will not seek to retry former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, whose bribery conviction was overturned in June by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prosecutors will also drop the corruption case against McDonnell’s wife, Maureen, according to a statement by the U.S. Justice Department. The couple had been accused of accepting $175,000 in loans, gifts and benefits from a businessman promoting a diet supplement. The Washington Post, the Hill and the National Law Journal (sub. req.) have stories.
The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in a unanimous opinion that jurors in the former Republican governor’s trial had received faulty instructions on the meaning of “official action” in the federal bribery law. McDonnell had argued his actions for the businessman were no more than “routine political courtesies” such as arranging meetings and hosting events.
