From McAuliffe for Governor Last week, Ken Cuccinelli refused to follow Governor McDonnell’s lead and continues to cling onto $18,000 in gifts from Star Scientific and its CEO Jonnie Williams. Despite his attempts to distance himself from Star and Williams – who is cooperating with the federal investigation into McDonnell – Cuccinelli’s involvement in the scandal has legs and national Republicans know it. On Sunday, RGA chair Bobby Jindal refused to defend Cuccinelli’s refusal to return the gifts. But Cuccinelli’s scandals don’t stop at Star Scientific. Now, his Washington backers are clearly panicking about the ongoing scandal over Cuccinelli siding with out-of-state energy companies in their lawsuit against Southwest Virginian landowners. This weekend, the Bristol Herald Courier reported that Ken Cuccinelli was asked about the scandal at a town hall in Tazewell, and last week the Richmond Times Dispatch suggested that Cuccinelli’s campaign stops in Southwest Virginia may be a sign he’s worried about losing support in what should be a Republican stronghold. Ken Cuccinelli has made clear that he values the tainted luxury gifts from Star Scientific and its disgraced CEO Jonnie Williams more than he values the integrity of Virginia government. Cuccinelli’s refusal to restore some trust by returning gifts is a reflection of his record of putting his own personal interests ahead of Virginia. Ken Cuccinelli should reconsider his stubborn refusal to acknowledge the embarrassment his keeping $18,000 in tainted gifts causes to the Commonwealth, and repay in full the value of the gifts he received – and in some cases solicited – from Williams and Star. But it’s not just the gifts scandal where Ken Cuccinelli has put his own interests first. Cuccinelli has used the power of the Office of the Attorney General to help out-of-state energy companies – subsidiaries of a major donor to his campaign – at the expense of Southwest Virginia landowners. In June, a federal judge said she was “shocked” by the help Cuccinelli’s office was giving these companies in their efforts to avoid paying landowners the royalties they’re due. Cuccinelli even took more than $100,000 in donations to his gubernatorial campaign from the company he was helping. How can Virginians ever expect Ken Cuccinelli to put their needs first?
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 15:11:22 +0000
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