More Improper Leaks from the Obama Administration? Judical Watch

More Improper Leaks from the Obama Administration?

As I’ve mentioned in this space before, the Obama gang has established a system for releasing records to the public and/or press.

If the information makes the president look bad, they will employ every dirty trick and stall tactic in the book to keep it under lock and key. (And if you talk to our investigating team, they will tell you to a person that the Obama gang is tenacious in this regard.)

However, if releasing the information serves to punish a political adversary, or serves a political interest, the Obama philosophy? Let it fly! Perhaps the most obvious example is the IRS campaign to release confidential financial records from organizations and individuals considered adversaries of the president (see next story).

But there is another “under the radar” potential leak that has JW in court battling for records. And it involves the Justice Department’s corruption investigation of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.

On May 16, 2014, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Obama Justice Department to obtain records of communications regarding the investigation into former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, his wife Maureen, and their financial relationship with Star Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams Sr.

In January 2014, the DOJ indicted McDonnell and his wife for illegally accepting gifts, vacations, loans and the use of a private jet valued at more than $165,000 in exchange for promoting Star Scientific dietary supplement products. Here’s what we’re after as described in our February 10, 2014 FOIA request:

Let’s take a look at a bit of the back story so you can get a better understanding of why these records are so important.

The January 21 Justice Department indictment alleged that the McDonnells began their relationship with Williams in March 2009 when Bob McDonnell used Williams’ private jet during his campaign for Governor.

Subsequently, the McDonnells allegedly accepted a variety of improper gifts from Williams including a $20,000 New York shopping expedition, a Rolex watch, and $15,000 to cater their daughter Cailin’s wedding. In addition to the gifts, Williams allegedly gave the McDonnells two $50,000 loans to help finance two houses in Virginia Beach.

Certainly these are very serious charges that warrant an investigation (which is why McDonnell made our 2013 list of Washington’s Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians as a “dishonorable mention.”) But the seriousness of the charges does not give the Obama administration license to smear Governor and Mrs. McDonnell through improper leaks to friendlies in the press.
In fact, when McDonnell and his wife pleaded not guilty to the federal corruption charges, U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer, who is set to oversee the jury trial scheduled to begin July 28, said as much, when he warned lawyers that anyone continuing to provide unwarranted information to the press could be punished.

“This will not be a trial by press conference or press release,” Spencer said. According to a CNS News story at the time, “The warnings underscored the highly public nature of the federal investigation into the McDonnells. Almost all of the relevant details of the government’s case against McDonnell had long been made public through months of news stories based on anonymous sources.”

In their motion for discovery in response to the indictment , McDonnell’s lawyers suggested possible political motivation for the prosecution, noting that there was” a steady stream of negative leaks of confidential information” made public during last year’s gubernatorial contest to succeed McDonnell. They characterized the leaks as “salacious and damaging.”

In a statement following the indictment, McDonnell said that he had been “falsely accused” and that the federal government’s case “rests entirely on a misguided legal theory” that “facilitating an introduction or meeting, appearing at a reception, or expressing support for a Virginia business is a serious federal crime for an office holder if it involves a political donor or someone who gave a gift or a loan.”

According to the Washington Post, Star Scientific received no state grants, contracts or board appointments. And according to the New York Times, “[N]o Virginia laws bar elected officeholders can take.”   In the end, a jury will decide the legal fate of Governor and Mrs. McDonnell. 

Whether ex-Governor McDonnell and his wife are guilty or not, the Obama Justice Department can’t break the rules by leaking information for political and other improper reasons. And it speaks volumes that the Department of Justice has refused to follow the law and respond to our request for information. What is Eric Holder’s Justice Department hiding?