Ex-VA Gov. Bob McDonnell, Wife GUILTY

Word on MSNBC and CNN at 3:06pmEST that former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who sold himself as a corruption fighter, and his wife have been found guilty on multiple charges of bribery and graft.

The NY Times‘ Trip Gabriel reports:

As 11 counts of “guilty” were pronounced on counts of conspiracy, bribery and extortion for Mr. McDonnell, he covered his face with his hands and his head fell nearly to the defense table. His wife, convicted on eight counts, looked straight ahead. There were sobs from the seats behind the couple that included their five adult children.

The McDonnells were indicted on 14 counts of conspiracy, bribery, extortion and related charges stemming from what prosecutors said was a scheme to sell the office of governor, which Mr. McDonnell occupied through January this year, for $177,000 in gifts and cash from a dietary supplements executive.

While other governors around the country have faced corruption charges in recent years, none of the cases unfolded in the national glare like the McDonnell melodrama, largely because the former governor was a rising Republican star, whose unexpected defense was that his picture-perfect marriage was, in fact, Photoshopped.

Mr. McDonnell, who carried his wife over the threshold of the Executive Mansion the day of his inauguration, portrayed her in his testimony as a harridan whose yelling left him “spiritually and mentally exhausted,” and who was so cold that after he sent her an email pleading to save their marriage, she did not reply.

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