Is Bad Judgement Illegal?

CBN News posted a story today about the federal corruption charges against Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. This is a federal case brought by the federal Department of Justice because no laws in Virginia were broken.

The article reports:

The McDonnells have been charged with accepting more than $165,000 in gifts, vacations and personal loans from Jonnie Williams, a former business executive, in exchange for promoting his products.

***The major question is whether McDonnell actually broke the law. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice, offered his insight on the case on The 700 Club, August 12.

There is no law in Virginia barring political figures from accepting gifts. I think there should be some sort of a limit on gifts to politicians, but since that is not the law in Virginia, no law was broken. The federal charge is that there was quid pro quo for the gifts.

I can’t help but wonder if the Justice Department would have brought this case if they hadn’t seen McDonnell as an up-and-coming Republican. Although I think that the governor exercised poor judgement in accepting the gifts, and I think the law should be changed, the fact is that he did not break the law. I fear that this is another example of the Justice Department being used as a political tool under the Obama Administration.