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Gov. McAuliffe Under Investigation for Campaign Fundraising

www.politico.com

Multiple news outlets are reporting this morning that the Justice Department is scrutinizing Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe’s time as a board member of the Clinton Global Initiative.

It’s been less than a month since justices at the United States Supreme Court considered the fate of former Republican Governor Bob McDonnell. Back in 2014, a jury found McDonell guilty of selling his influence for luxury gifts and low interest loans. Now, Quentin Kidd at Christopher Newport University is struck by the similarity of what’s happening with McAuliffe. 

“Within days at the most weeks of the Supreme Court deciding whether one governor is going to go to jail, we now learn that another governor — the current governor — is under federal investigation for something related to a big campaign contribution from in this case a Chinese businessman."

Virginia legal expert Rich Kelsey says the timing of the news is noteworthy. 

“With all of the investigation of Hillary Clinton and in fact the Clinton foundation, one wonders if the FBI didn’t stumble upon this as an offshoot of that investigation."

The FBI is declining to make any comment.