Thank you for your public apology for the embarrassment that you and your family have brought the citizens of Virginia. Thanks also for paying back the more than $124,000 in loans that you and your wife have received from Jonnie R. Williams Sr.
I know that all of us can at times be venal and greedy. I can – just ask my family and associates.
There are, however, a few more things you could do to truly clear the air and put all of us on the straight and narrow road to righteousness. Here is a list:
(1) You should consider giving back or selling for charity the other gifts you and your family received from Mr. Williams. These would include such as items as the Rolex watch, the Ocsar de la Renta designer clothing, your daughter’s $10,000 engagement gift and any and all Anatabloc dietary supplement tablets and skin cream that you did not actually purchase yourself.
(2) You should set up a special commission to seriously reform Virginia’s laws on political donations, gift giving, and their disclosure by others to politicians. The Old Dominion is notoriously lax in this regard. Other states (see chart) not only forbid gifts over a certain amount, but nix having close relatives of politicians or state officials receive them (see Colorado and Tennessee).
(3) Penalties for lack of disclosure must be toughened considerably. If you don’t disclose or merely forget, you should be held accountable.
(4) There should be a State Ethics Commission created to provide a place where tipsters can go and actual probes can be affected.
(5) The role of the Virginia Public Access Project should be reconsidered. This non-profit, non-partisan group does fine work maintaining a data base where disclosures be viewed. But if gifts and stock holdings are not reported, as was the case with you and Atty. Gen. Kenneth Cuccinelli, then VPAP can’t reveal what they are. VPAP also receives considerable funding from big corporations such coal giant Alpha Natural Resources, cigarette maker Altria and utility Dominion that all are among the largest political campaign contributors. Having a professional state organization handle this might be a better approach.
Again, I thank you for your apology although I realize it may not affect the FBI and Richmond Commonwealth Attorney office’s investigations of you and Mr. Williams. It does start clearing the air and is most welcome. I hope you have a good time visiting our troops in Afghanistan and that your new legal defense team works out for you.
With best regards,
Peter Galuszka
Bacon’s Rebellion”
