Decision Virginia

Accuser of former McDonnell aide speaks to NBC12

Thursday we broke the story about the charges Eric Finkbeiner, the former senior policy advisor to Governor Bob McDonnell (R), is facing after a tumultuous affair with a woman who is not his estranged wife.

Last night on NBC12 News at 11, Mr. Finkbeiner's accuser, Summer Hudson who is now facing charges herself spoke on camera to our Chris Thomas.

Chris also revealed some of the sordid details Ms. Hudson alleges in the criminal complaint she filed that ultimately led to Finkbeiner's arrest.

Finkbeiner's attorney also spoke to Chris. Todd Stone believes there are two sides to the story and appears prepared to make Hudson's character a key issue when the case goes to court.

As Chris points out in his report from Thursday night, this could be a question of "he said, she said".

Here is the NBC12 report:

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News Click here for MOBILE

RICHMOND (WWBT)- The woman accusing one of Governor Bob McDonnell's former top aides of assault - is speaking out.

Summer Hudson says she has lived in fear of Washington Redskin's attorney Eric Finkbeiner for too long.

"When you are having to look over your shoulder all the time," said Summer Hudson. "It is just scary."

Hudson spoke to NBC 12 with her attorney by her side. Eric Finkbeiner, the former senior advisor for policy to Governor Bob McDonnell and the architect of the administration's failed effort to privatize the state's ABC stores, has been arrested on four different assault charges and three violations of a protective order.

"I'm tired of living in fear for such a long time," said Hudson. "Nobody wants to go through any type of situations of this sort."

Criminal complaints include a text message exchange in which Finkbeiner allegedly tells Hudson, "You are absolutely nothing and I pray for your painful and agonizing death."

On May 12, 2012 Hudson claims, "My arm and shoulder were in the door, and Eric kept slamming it on my arm."

"This young lady has brought to me probably more pictures, more text messages, more than any 3 clients put together," said Hudson's attorney George Edwards. "I would say the record speaks for itself. Ms. Hudson stopped in our office the other day completely distraught."

Finkbeiner is being represented by Todd Stone, who says his client is not guilty of the charges.

"Were you surprised by the charges?" we asked Stone.

"I am surprised that they came at this late stage," said Stone who notes the charges date back to May, October, and November of 2012. Our cameras were rolling when Stone called to notify Hudson they would be filing charges against her as well.

read Chris's full story on NBC12.com

Both sides will be back in court on June 20th. We will continue to keep a close eye on this case.

Former top aide to McDonnell arrested on assault charges

Eric Finkbeiner, the former senior advisor for policy to Governor Bob McDonnell and the architect of the administration's failed effort to privatize the state's ABC stores, has been arrested on four different assault charges and three violations of a protective order. 

All seven charges are misdemeanors and stem from a relationship with one woman, who is not his estranged wife.

The accusations directed at Finkbeiner come from a woman named Summer Hudson who he admits to having a "tumultuous" relationship with.

Ms. Hudson, who is also facing charges that have yet to appear on the Chesterfield General District Court website, spoke on camera to our Chris Thomas. His story on the back and forth on this case will air tonight on NBC12 at 11.

Finkbeiner is currently a lawyer with his own law/consulting practice. His most high profile client is the Washington Redskins.  He has been a key player in the negotiations to bring the Redskins training camp to Richmond.

He left the McDonnell administration in May of 2011 for a position at McGuireWoods Consulting LLC. He left McGuireWoods in late 2012 to start his own firm.

The four separate incidents happened over more than a year. The latest occured in late March of this year.

Finkbeiner appeared in Chesterfield District Court this afternoon where the case was continued. He will appear again on June 20th.

He is being represented by local defense attorney Todd Stone. Stone said his client is not guilty of the charges. He told me by phone that there is a "complete other side of the story" that will eventually come out in court. 

UPDATE: Stone has followed up with a more complete statement:

"It is very easy to get a warrant against someone in Virginia and that's the  reason people are presumed innocent at this stage.  Fortunately Mr. Finkbeiner had the awareness and foresight to preserve a substantial amount of evidence during this tumultuous relationship and it will prove his innocence in a courtroom". - Todd Stone 

Finkbeiner has not officially been forced to answer to the charges.

The Governor's office chose not to comment on Finkbeiner's arrest.

NBC12 photojournalist Dax Gray contributed to this report.

McAuliffe puts Cuccinelli on the transportation spot

It will be a key rallying cry for the McAuliffe gubernatorial campaign for the next several months. It will be a cry aimed directly at Ken Cuccinelli.

I supported Bob McDonnell's transportation plan and you fought against it.

In his Richmond campaign launch Monday morning where he was introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D), Terry McAuliffe drove that point home and hinted that a Governor Cuccinelli could potentially undo the progress.

(McAuliffe was joined in Richmond by Kaine (left) and Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones)

He also took a bit of credit for the transportation bill's success himself.

"I was proud to make calls and do meetings to help push it over the finish line," he said "And I was frankly amazed that my opponent tried to block this important progress at each and every step."

Running on the McDonnell transportation record has plenty of benefits for McAuliffe. It is clear Virginians are happy with the concept, and continue to give McDonnell high marks for his stewardship of the state despite the difficulties he has had with Star-Scientific saga.

It also plays into important constituents McAuliffe will need to draw in order to win in November. Both Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads deal the most with Virginia's transportation difficulites and they are both regions where a McAuliffe victory will need to come from.

Cuccinelli remains vague about his plans for transportation but has consistently been critical of tax increases, a key component of McDonnell's road fix. The Republican is planning a major tax policy roll out tomorrow, which could include a fix or change to the McDonnell transportation plan.

Regardless, while McAuliffe continues to remind voters that he was for the transportation plan and Cuccinelli wasn't, Cuccinelli will take a page out of the traditional GOP playbook and accuse McAuliffe of just wanting to raise taxes.

"McAuliffe has a long record of supporting tax increases on voters in the Commonwealth, including the estate tax that even Tim Kaine opposed," said Anna Nix, a Cuccinelli Spokeswoman.

An extended clip of McAuliffe's remarks regarding transportation can be found below:

 

Judge recuses Cuccinelli from Chef case, defers decision on dismissal

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News 

RICHMOND (WWBT)- There were wins and losses for both sides Thursday morning in Richmond Circuit Court.

Judge Margret P. Spencer ruled that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and his office did have a conflict of interest in the embezzlement case of Todd Schneider the former Executive Chef at the Virginia's Governor's Mansion.

The conflict was enough for Spencer to agree to remove the Attorney's General's office from the case.

At the same time as officially pulling Cuccinelli off the case, Spencer also decided to defer Schneider and his attorney Steve Benjamin's motion to outright dismiss the case based on the fact that Cuccinelli had waited so long to ask to be recused.

(Schneider (left) and his attorney Steve Benjamin did not comment leaving the courtroom)

Spencer told Benjamin that the new prosecutor, who she hand picked, Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Underwood would handle the motion for dismissal at another pre-trial hearing set for May 14th.

The Attorney General's office had asked that the case be handled by Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert.

It became clear quickly in the oral arguments that Benjamin was prepared to make the politics of the Attorney General's office, the race for Governor and the McDonnell Administration a major part of the case. He outlined in great specificity the connections between McDonnell, a witness in the case Mary Shae Sutherland and Cuccinelli's campaign for Governor.

Sutherland was once the Chief of Staff to First Lady Maureen McDonnell and now works for a consulting firm that has raised money on behalf of Cuccinelli's gubernatorial bid.

Benjamin argued that Cuccinelli's office knew of this conflict more than a year before an indictment was handed down and should've asked to be recused before Schneider was formally charged.

Benjamin also launched into a lengthy explanation of the politics of this case as a conflict and brought up the name Jonnie Williams, the CEO of Star Scientific. The man who paid Schenider to cater McDonnnel's daughter's wedding and who has been a financial backer of both McDonnell and Cuccinelli.

Before he could get to far into making his political connections to the case, Patrick Dorgan, the senior Assitant Attorney General objected and which Spencer sustained before quickly made her ruling.

This latest development sets up yet another showdown in court between Schenider and prosecutors before the actual trial takes place. It is still scheduled for the summer and Spencer told Benjamin her goal was to stay on that course.

The arguments on the motion for dimissal will be heard May 14th at 1pm.

Leaving the courtroom, both attorneys and Schneider chose not to comment. Both sides have been put under a gag order in the case by the Judge.

 

Chef case and Star Scientific saga brings Executive Mansion public

It is an intersection of politics, an accused crime and a sitting governor. It is an intersection that currently meets at one Virginia's most historic buildings, the Governor's Mansion.

The embezzlement case surrounding former Executive Chef Todd Schneider is making life difficult for Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli.

NBC12's Investigative Reporter Rachel DePompa examines how the case and it's many connections are pulling back the curtain at the home of Virginia's governor. It is a world that is not much different from the many governor's who have lived their before, but one seldom seen by the average public.

Here is Rachel's report for NBC12:

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News 

RICHMOND (WWBT)- Tomorrow a judge will hear arguments on whether state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli can remove his office from a case that's become a political scandal.

The FBI is even asking questions. And it all started with a cook in the kitchen. There hasn't even been a hearing, but the back and forth of court documents really illustrates the fishbowl that the first family lives in at the Executive Mansion. That fishbowl is opening up their private lives in a way we've never seen before.

Todd Schneider claims he's a whistle blower and the charges against him are retaliation. State Police have charged the ex-chef with four counts of embezzling property from the 200 year-old Executive Mansion. For the first time ever, we are peering inside its windows and scratching at closed doors.

In court documents lawyers are already offering up tidbits: accusing the governor's sons of taking Gatorade and protein powder from the mansion to their college dorms. Lawyers accuse one of the governor's daughters of taking booze for a private party. There are even accusations that the governor's wife gave away pots and pans.

"Nobody has really tried like the lawyers for ex-chef are going to try, to sort of pull the cover back from a lot of the things that go on at the mansion," said local attorney and political analyst Paul Goldman. He helped run Doug Wilder's historic campaign for governor. He even got married inside the executive mansion.

"I mean when the Indians bring the turkey (at Thanksgiving) nobody's asking what happened to the bones and the legs. You have a lot of power people over to the mansion. The governor is wining and dinning, cutting some political deals."

He says it goes on in every administration: the booze, food, catering and parties

"Yes it's public money and it's appropriated, but that's hallowed ground. Everybody knows that you stay out of governor's mansion," said Goldman.

Read Rachel's entire story on NBC12.com

Even though it maybe the goal of the Attorney General's office, it will be very difficult to keep the Chef case from becoming political. 

His office won't talk about the case specifically, but a spokesman told us via e-mail that the office is doing the best it can to keep the focus of the case in the courtroom.

"Like every other criminal prosecution this office handles, this case will be tried in court and not in the media," said Brian Gottstein, the Attorney General's Director of Communication.

I'll be in the courtroom tomorrow for the hearing. We will have updates here and on my twitter page.

McDonnell claims no special benefits for Star Scientific

McDonnell responds to reports of FBI investigation (Click here for mobile)

 

Governor Bob McDonnell took to WTOP radio this morning for his regular ‘Ask the Governor” segment and answered questions about the Washington Post report that broke the news that he and members of his family are under investigation by the FBI.

The Governor would not get into specifics about the case, but vowed that despite the thousands of dollars in gifts that he has received from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams -- the company has had to play by the same set of rules as everyone else.

The Post broke the story late last night, and the AP followed up with a similar report today, confirming with Federal sources that the FBI is examining McDonnell's relationship with Williams and whether it opened the door to the government providing the company special benefits.

On WTOP, McDonnell pointed out that the only economic development grants given to Star-Scientific came during the Warner administration.  He admitted that he and Williams are close friends, but said that relationship does not give him special access.

"I think it is important that the people of Virginia know that nothing has been done with regard to my relationship with Mr. Williams or his company Star-Scientific that would give any kind of special benefits to him or his company," McDonnell said.

The FBI investigation comes against the backdrop of the embezzlement case involving McDonnell's former executive chef Todd Schneider.

Schneider was paid by Williams to cater McDonnell's daughter's wedding. His attorney filed a motion yesterday to have the case dismissed because of a conflict interest involving Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  That case will have a hearing later this week.

AG's office spells out conflict in Executive Chef case

The Attorney General's office has responded to a motion to prevent Ken Cuccinelli's office from recusing itself from the prosecution of Todd Schneider, the one time Executive Chef accused of stealing from Virginia's Executive Mansion.

Schneider's attorney Steve Benjamin is working to block Cuccinelli from removing himself from the case without specifically listing what conflict would prevent him from effectively prosecuting the case.

The move could be an effort to further bring into light Cuccinelli's relationship with Star-Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams, who paid Schneider to cater Gov. Bob McDonnell's daughter's wedding.

In the three page brief filed in support of the motion, Deputy Attorney General Patrick W. Dorgan outlines several different reasons for the AG's office to hand the case off.

Among them is a never before revealed connection between First Lady Maureen McDonnell's  former Chief of Staff Mary Shea Sutherland and Cuccinelli. Sutherland has gone on to work for a fundraising and event company that Cuccinelli has worked with in his campaign for Governor.

Sutherland could be potentially called as a witness and the Attorney General's office wanted to make sure that there would be no appearance of impropriety.

The brief also goes to great lengths to point out the defense's effort to politicize the case and in particular its connection to Star- Scientific. Dorgan argues that based on what Benjamin has already asked for, it is possible that one or more members of the McDonnell administration could be called on as a witness and because the Attorney General serves as the Governor's counsel it could lead to awkward position of cross-examining a client.

The brief argues that the successful prosecution of the case could be hampered by the potential of the appearance of impropriety.

Whether or not it will be enough convince the defense counsel or the judge remains to be seen.

A hearing in front of Judge Margaret P. Spencer is set for May 2nd.

You can read the entire brief here.

Meanwhile, the Star- Scientific saga took another turn today when Cuccinelli revealed to reporters in an informal pen and pad session that he took reciept of several gifts from Williams that he once again forgot to report.

According to Chelyen Davis of the Fredricksburg Star who was there, Cuccinelli said he simply "forgot" Williams had provided him with a number of gifts and trips.

Here is a portion of Davis' report:

Cuccinelli’s relationship with Star Scientific and Williams became a controversy several weeks ago when it was reported that he held stock in the company, even as Star Scientific was suing the state of Virginia over a tax bill dispute.

Williams had given Cuccinelli gifts and travel worth about $13,000, according to Cuccinelli’s original financial disclosures.

Today Cuccinelli revealed more:

– A $628 trip from Jonnie Williams to and from New York City for a Jewish community center meeting in 2009

– A $7,751 charter flight from Alpha Natural Resources in 2010 to take Cuccinelli and his parents to a Virginia Mining Association meeting in Southwest Virginia. Cuccinelli was a speaker at that meeting, which he described as the association’s annual mine land reclamation awards.

– A 2010 Thanksgiving stay at Jonnie Williams’ Smith Mountain Lake lakehouse for Cuccinelli and his family, plus dinner that Williams had delivered. Valued at $1,500.

– In 2012, transportation to and from a rally by the Federation of American Coal, Energy and Security, valued at $795.

– In 2012, the Cuccinelli family also spent most of a week at Williams’ lake house for a summer family vacation, valued at $3,000

– In 2011, Cuccinelli revised his report to show that a $6,711 box of food supplements came from Star Scientific, not from Williams.

Cuccinelli told reporters he initiated a review of his past reports after a campaign staffer, who had formerly worked in the attorney general’s office, asked about a trip she thought he had taken that Cuccinelli thought had been reported but wasn’t.

He said it was simply an error to have left those five items off his disclosure forms, and was “unintentional on my part.”

“I declared everything I remembered when I filled out the forms,” Cuccinelli said.

See the full story here.

This again continues the story that the Republican ticket would like to give some closure to. However with several pending lawsuits in the works, the name Star-Scientific will remain in the campaign headlines for many weeks to come.

Despite solid support, Cuccinelli remains opposed to transportation deal

Transportation was one of the biggest issues of the gubernatorial campaign four years ago. Despite what appears to be a solution on the table, it appears it could be one of the biggest issues in 2013 as well.

Ken Cuccinelli (R) and Terry McAuliffe (D), the presumptive nominees for governor of both parties, have picked clears sides in the debate over the plan and are prepared to let voters decide which one is right.

McAuliffe has consistently supported Governor Bob McDonnell's efforts to forge a compromise. This despite some concerns from Democrats that the plan robs too much money from the state's general fund. McAuliffe even doubled down after McDonnell offered up his amendments this week by saying McDonnell was "overcoming last minute roadblocks thrown up by those who prefer extreme gridlock".

That gridlock he is referring to was directed at Cuccinelli, who not only disagreed with McDonnell from a policy perspective, but from a legal perspective as well.  Cuccinelli the candidate was critical of how much the plan raised in taxes. Cuccinelli the Attorney General warned McDonnell that his plan to tax municipalities at different levels was unconstitutional. After McDonnell adjusted the plan Cuccinelli applauded the effort and seemed to indicate the new deal was a workable solution.

But that gets us back to the politics. Legal or not, the transportation funding plan, with its increase in taxes, shifting of general fund monies and creation of new and increased fees in other areas is controversial from a policy perspective. Yesterday on WRVA radio, Cuccinelli made it clear he is still very much against the plan as a policy.

"I have never been for this bill, and I wish you wouldn’t say that," Cuccinelli said to Jimmy Barrett when the host described Cuccinelli as a supporter of the revised plan.  "I did my job as Attorney General to give advice to get it to be constitutional which is my baseline."

So to be clear, on the merits of the transportation plan as policy, Cuccinelli remains decidedly opposed.

"I have not supported this bill," he went on to say. "The only thing that we’ve pointed out is that we helped get it constitutional. That doesn’t mean I like it."

It is early and the bill is not law yet, but the early reviews are overwhelmingly positive.  A new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning shows Virginians approve of McDonnell's transportation plan by a 3-1 margin. In fact according to the survey, Republicans, which have been the most vocal critics of the plan, support the measure by a margin of 32%- 10%.

But it is early.

While those who know about the plan like it, most of the people who responded to the poll (55%) didn't know enough about the plan to render judgment.

That indicates there is still plenty of time and opportunity for both sides to define both the issue and where they stand.

One thing is abundantley clear. McAuliffe is for the plan. Cuccinelli is against the plan.

We won't know until November how that impacts the way people vote.

 

Transportation battle creates awkward political triangle

Sometimes it is hard to keep up with who is saying what about whom.

Wait.. did Terry McAuliffe (D) just applaud Bob McDonnell (R)?

Did Ken Cuccinelli (R) attack McDonnell's transportation plan, but now is working to take credit for it?

Did McDonnell just remind people in a not so delicate way just what role Cuccinelli plays in the legislative process?

The protracted battle over Virginia's new transportation funding plan has led to awkward allies defending and attacking each other at strange times. It is partly because of the short truncated legislative session, partly because it was being negotiated during an election year, and all because of the people involved.

It has created a strange political triangle between the two men who want to be governor and the man who currently has the job.

Tuesday's news of Governor McDonnell's plan to amend the passed transportation proposal is a perfect example of how information flows between these three men in a way that is difficult to pin down.

First let's get a few things straight. McDonnell is a Republican and has endorsed Cuccinelli. He has even thrown a few fundraisers for him.

Cuccinelli is also a Republican, but has been very critical of the McDonnell transportation plan because of it's hefty hike in taxes. He also complicated things late last week when, as part of his day job as Attorney General, he warned that a specific section of the transportation plan was unconstitutional. 

Finally, Terry McAuliffe is a Democrat, hoping to beat Cuccinelli. He has not been afraid to attack McDonnell's governorship for its approach to social issues and what he has called a lack of a focus on job creation.

But this controversial transportation deal has forced Republicans to attack Republicans and in this case Democrats to rush to their defense.

As the plan weaved its way through the General Assembly it was Cuccinelli who was one of the plan's biggest opponents. He then issued that public opinion late Friday evening calling the plan unconstitutional. It had the potential to blow the whole deal up.

While Cuccinelli was throwing arrows at McDonnell's plan it was McAuliffe who was there to defend him. He called the bi-partisan deal "historic" and accused of Cuccinelli of pushing gridlock over progress. This was the same McAuliffe who has traveled the state for the last four years spending a lot of his time attacking McDonnell's policies.

McDonnell, meanwhile remained positive. Preferring to ignore Cuccinelli's attacks publicly and instead direct his staff to work with Cuccinelli's staff to craft a solution to the aspects of the plan that concerned the Attorney General as unconstiutional. While on the surface it may have seemed that Cuccinelli's concerns on legality were a surprise, McDonnell said this morning on WTOP radio that the two were in constant contact.

But while McDonnell thanked Cuccinelli as his lawyer for pointing out his legal concerns, McDonnell subtly made it clear that his opinions were just that, opinions. When it comes to policy, he is the decision maker.

"We do not ask for his (Cuccinelli's) permission," said McDonnell. "We ask for his advice."

Meanwhile McAuliffe continued to heap praise on McDonnell for his efforts to forge a compromise and at the same time accused Cuccinelli of working to destroy the plan.

"I applaud Governor McDonnell for once again overcoming last minute roadblocks thrown up by those who prefer extreme gridlock," McAuliffe said in a statement. "By definition, compromise is never perfect for all sides, but Governor McDonnell, Lt. Governor Bolling and Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly came together to make progress for Virginia."

But this triangle wasn't quite done being connected, because it wasn't just McAuliffe looking to praise McDonnell and look for a way to be a part of a successful outcome. Cuccinelli pointed to the role he played in helping the Governor create something that the courts will find sufficient.

“I was honored to work with members of the McDonnell Administration in making sure the legislation was able to move forward without the threat of any legal challenges" he said in a statement.  "Moving forward, I remain committed to working to fix Virginia’s transportation problems, which will create jobs and ease the congestion across the Commonwealth.”

Now the plan moves back to the legislature to vote on the final version of the plan. All three corners of this political triangle could play a role in the final outcome. Their role, and the perception of that role, could play a big role into who wins in November.

Mike Valerio's report on the nuts and bolts of the McDonnell amendments can be found below:

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

Cuccinelli warns transportation bill, Medicaid expansion are unconstitutional

It is not binding in any way. In theory it does nothing to hinder the progress of two important pieces of legislation currently sitting on Governor Bob McDonnell's desk.

But late Friday evening, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who is running to become the next governor, released a series of opinions two of which deal with the transportation funding compromise and a plan to open the door to an expansion of Medicaid.

In both opinions, requested by Del. Bob Marshall (R- Prince William County), Cuccinelli points out that specific issues he has with both bills.

On transportation, Cuccinelli takes issue with the plan to charge a higher sales tax in Northern Virginia designed to boost aid specifically to transportation projects in that area.

On Medicaid, the Attorney General said it is unconstitutional for the General Assembly to delegate the responsibility of expanding the program to another committe. He believes it must be handled by the entire legislative body.

It is important to point out that the Attorney General cannot, on his own, prevent these bills from going into law. These opinions are merely responses to queries from legislative members designed to get his take if the laws would stand up if the state were taken to court. As the state's chief lawyer, it would be Cuccinelli's job to defend these laws and he is making sure the people he represents understand his concerns before their passage.

Governor McDonnell is still free to sign these bills into law without any changes. But, having an Attorney General publicly on the record declaring the bill or eventually law unconstitutional makes it pretty difficult for his office to defend it if someone did decide to sue.

McDonnell's office said that the Governor has been in close contact with the Attorney General throughout this process and is aware of his constiutional questions related to the bill.

"Every bill passed by the General Assembly is reviewed by the attorney general," said McDonnell spokesman Paul Shanks. "We will consider that advice as we make a final determination on necessary amendments to the legislation."

McDonnell has until the 25th to either veto or amend the passed legislation. He has been a vocal supporter of both measures, but proposed a much different transportation plan than the one eventually passed. He has since taken hefty criticism from the right who argue the hike in taxes is too much.

There is obviously a political aspect to this maneuver as well. We will talk more about that in a future post.