http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/09/us/us-ends-corruption-case-against-former-virginia-governor.html 2016-09-09 01:09:46 U.S. Ends Corruption Case Against Former Virginia Governor The Justice Department said Thursday that it would cease its prosecution of Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen. === The Justice Department said Thursday that it would abandon its case against Federal prosecutors also said that they would end an associated case against Mr. McDonnell’s wife, Maureen. The decisions, made public in filings to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, effectively concluded a political, legal and filial drama that mesmerized and embarrassed Virginia, where the McDonnells were accused of a criminal bargain with a dietary supplements executive. “After carefully considering the Supreme Court’s recent decision and the principles of federal prosecution, we have made the decision not to pursue the case further,” the Justice Department said in a three-paragraph statement after the filings were submitted. The terse end to the matter was, in some ways, expected after the Supreme Court “We have said from the very first day that The lawyers added that they believed the Justice Department had “brought this case in good faith based on its view of the law as it existed at the time.” Ms. McDonnell’s lawyer, William A. Burck, issued a similar statement: “We thank the Department of Justice for the care with which they reviewed the case. We are thrilled and thankful that Maureen can now move on with her life.” The McDonnells The benefits and gifts, including a Rolex, designer clothes and financial aid for a daughter’s wedding, were worth more than $175,000. Although the gifts were allowed under Virginia law, prosecutors successfully argued to a jury that the McDonnells, whose legal fates were often seen as intertwined, had violated federal anticorruption statutes. A judge later Corruption experts were divided Thursday about whether the Justice Department’s decisions reflected a new approach to corruption cases in the wake of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision. “The Department of Justice views this decision as having a material effect on the way they’ve been prosecuting quid pro quo cases in the past,” said Anthony M. Capozzolo, a former federal prosecutor, who interpreted the McDonnells’ decisions as “a sign that they’re going to handle these cases differently.” Still, others noted the extent to which prosecutorial decisions hinge on the facts and circumstances of specific cases. “When a new legal standard is articulated by the Supreme Court and there’s a need to potentially retry the case, prosecutors make a very particularized assessment as to whether, No. 1, they can still convince a jury of the individual’s guilt under the new standard, and, two, whether it’s in the interests of justice,” said Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former chief of the public corruption unit in the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Mr. McDonnell’s lawyers did not say in Thursday’s statement whether the former governor might try to resuscitate a political career that had spawned speculation about a presidential bid. But