Earth to Richmond: The Middle Will Not Hold It’s been twelve days since I posted my letter to the Governor regarding his family’s receipt of gifts from Jonnie Williams and Star Scientific. My words were chosen carefully and my advice was clear: “come clean” on the gifts, and return what you can (or sell them and give the proceeds to charity). Otherwise, step down and let the Lt. Governor finish the term, a process specifically outlined in Article V, Section 16 of our constitution. Since that time, events have proceeded with astonishing rapidity: more gifts, more favors, more failures to disclose. Last Tuesday, the Post broke the story of the Governor’s family accepting $120,000 in “loans” to help distressed real estate properties, as well as $10,000 in cash for another wedding. God only knows what will be come out next. I have received no response to my letter from the Executive Office. Meanwhile, the furor around the matter has grown and others are coming around to the same end point. That includes respected Republican blog writers like Bearing Drift and Mason Conservative. Notwithstanding this rising tide of outrage, there appears to be a mild consensus — perhaps unspoken — in the Political Establishment that the Governor is a lame duck and should be allowed to finish out his term, at least until some concrete action is taken by the Federal grand jury investigating these gifts. These “calls for inaction” basically stem from the following principle: the Governor did not technically break the law, so therefore it’s not right to impeach him. Anyway, he’s finished politically, so let’s let him finish his term and pass some feel-good “reform” bill in 2014 regarding gifts to family members. That will show ‘em! That tepid position suffers from two errors. First, it mistakes the potential legal charge. We are no longer talking about minor fines for inaccurately filling out a disclosure report. Rather, we’re talking about a potential Hobbs Act indictment for “influence peddling.” No, that’s not far-fetched. Federal prosecutors convicted Governors Rod Blagoyevich (D-Illinois) and Don Siegelman (D-Alabama) with far less money changing hands. They are each serving time in a Federal facility. Secondly, the Governor is hardly a lame duck. In the next six months, he will wield plenty of power, which include the following constitutional duties: appointment of judges, appointment of state boards and commissions, appointment of university Visitors, pardoning of state prisoners, preparing the state budget for the 2014-2015, and (finally) addressing the new General Assembly when it is seated on January 7, 2014. Most importantly, he will continue to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of our workforce of over 100,000 state employees, each of whom is subject to a rigorous professional code that brooks no favoritism (could you imagine a college professor receiving a $10,000 gift from a student and keeping his job?) What can we do? Article IV, Section 16 of the Constitution states that any state official, including the Governor, can be impeached by the House of Delegates for “malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanor.” The impeachment must be made by the House of Delegates, which will then transmit the articles to the Senate who can convict — or acquit — based upon a 2/3 vote. Of course, that vote cannot occur unless the Assembly is called into a special session. Assuming that the Governor does not issue a call for his own impeachment session, it will require a petition of the sitting members to call a special session. Please note that, by suggesting a special session, I’m not saying that the Governor is guilty of those items defined in the Constitution. That’s a legal determination, which requires specific evidence if and when we hold the special session. And the Governor must have his day “in court,” if he decides to fight these charges. Of course, my hope is still that the Governor chooses “Option 1″ and simply itemizes these extraordinary gifts, returns the ones that he can, and files amended disclosure reports. If he cannot do the right thing because of the pending criminal investigation, then it really is pointless to have him continue in any capacity. He should step down. In closing, I note that the Executive Branch terminates state employees ALL THE TIME for violating conduct policies. It is inconceivable that the Governor can proceed for the next six months as if he is subject to no rules, without any action from our branch. If so, then the General Assembly is shirking its constitutional responsibilities. And that’s not acceptable either.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 15:43:05 +0000
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