After years of intense legal scrutiny, former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife are finally free of the legal cloud that’s been hanging over their heads since being convicted of pubic corruption.
Federal prosecutors are asking that the case against Bob McDonnell be dismissed with prejudice.
"Well the significance is that it’s the prosecution that asked that this case be dismissed."
That’s Virginia legal expert Rich Kelsey.
“It is the prosecution that is waiving the white flag. It is the prosecution that is saying in legal terms we do not have a basis to proceed. We cannot bring this case."
McDonnell and his wife were convicted back in 2014, but then the United States Supreme Court overturned the sentence saying prosecutors didn’t make the case. Lawyers have been meeting at the Department of Justice for weeks to determine if they should bring a new case with different jury instructions. Ultimately they decided not to. Geoff Skelley at the University of Virginia Center for Politics says it’s good news for McDonnell but not great news.
“I mean in the sense that he doesn’t have to go to jail. But he’s lost how many years of his life on this, and it’s ruined him politically. I’d be stunned to see him back in politics."
McDonnell had been a rising star in the Republican Party, until federal prosecutors outlined a case against the governor that involved a series of luxury gifts and low-interest loans from a wealthy businessman. In it’s decision overturning the jury’s verdict, the Supreme Court described the relationship as “tawdry."
