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(Commentary- Perception of wink and nod is all that stands between fundraising and felony)
(Seahawks unanimous No. 1 in latest AP Pro32)
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McDonnell was not charged with bribery. As is common in this context, federal prosecutors charged him with the easier-to-prove crimes of fraud and extortion. The fraud counts were based on a statute that prohibits devising a scheme or artifice to defraud through the wire(s). The extortion counts were based on a statute that prohibits obtaining property under color of official right. Both offenses are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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The Seattle Seahawks didn't need a "Fail Mary" to beat the Green Bay Packers in <a href=http://www.alportico.net/gosoc.php> true religion outlet</a>  Week 1.They sure didn't do anything to lose their spot atop the AP Pro32 rankings.The Seahawks ran roughshod over the Packers in a 36-16 rout Thursday night to open the season, showcasing the same dominant defense that led them to the Super Bowl a year ago while also opening up an offense that could leave a lot of teams wondering what hit them.The beat-down persuaded everybody in the 12-member media panel that regularly covers the league to put Seattle on top. Denver had received one first-place vote in the preseason poll."No complacency for the defending champs, who pick up right where they left off with a dominating performance on both sides of the ball," said Bob Glauber of Newsday.The Seahawks held Aaron Rodgers to just 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw for two scores without a pick. The Seahawks finished with nearly 400 yards of offense, putting the game away with 19 straight points spanning halftime."You've been warned," said Ira Kauffman of The Tampa Tribune. "The Seahawks are prying open their offensive playbook."The Broncos were the clear-cut second choice, garnering all but one second-place vote. The San Francisco 49ers were third, followed by the Cincinnati Bengals -- a big mover after their win at Baltimore -- and the Philadelphia Eagles.Denver raced out to a 24-7 halftime lead against Indianapolis on Sunday, and then had to hold on after a frantic Colts comeback. The Broncos wound up winning 31-24."Little concerning that the defense gave up some late points," said former NFL coach <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/guccioutlet.onlinesalecc.php>Gucci Outlet Store</a>  Herm Edwards, now with ESPN, "but that offense looks in postseason form."The 49ers rolled to a 28-17 victory in Dallas, getting a near-flawless performance from quarterback Colin Kaepernick and balance from running backs Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde."The best news out of the 49ers win was that its defense didn't play like a unit missing key players due to injuries and suspensions," Sports Illustrated's Jenny Vrentas said.Cincinnati moved from a tie for 10th into fourth place after its own road win, while the Eagles rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit with 34 unanswered points against Jacksonville. The performance left the Eagles with some mixed reviews.Kauffman, who had them fourth on his ballot, wrote that "Darren Sproles and Chip Kelly constitute a marriage made in NFL heaven," while Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News had them sixth, pointing out that "Nick Foles is on pace to get sacked 95 times this season."The Packers and New Orleans Saints were tied for sixth, followed by the New England Patriots and the Colts. The Arizona Cardinals rounded out the top 10, getting plenty of love after scoring 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to steal an 18-17 win over San Diego."I like the way this team fought through adversity," said ESPN's Herm Edwards.The Kansas City Chiefs, who made the playoffs last season, tumbled all the way to No. 24 after getting blown out by Tennessee. The Washington Redskins were No. 28, followed <a href=http://www.symbiose.ca/images/christianlouboutin.gwij.php>Christian Louboutin Outlet</a>  by the New York Giants, the Cowboys, the Oakland Raiders and the St. Louis Rams.St. Louis lost quarterback Sam Bradford to injury before the season, and fill-in Shaun Hill during the first half of a 34-6 home loss to Minnesota. Aaron Davis finished out the game."No Sam Bradford. No Shaun Hill," Glauber wrote. "No chance of anything except a high draft pick in 2015."___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The fraud theory works like this: As governor, McDonnell was supposed to act on behalf of the people of Virginia. Instead, he solicited money from a private company to act as needed on its behalf, thus defrauding Virginians of a (small) portion of McDonnell s honest services. The extortion theory is similar. <a href=http://www.museosangennaro.com/Public/anel.php>Cheap Christian Louboutin Shoes</a>  McDonnell obtained private property that he was not entitled to in return for a promise to perform official acts or, in the language of the statute, obtained money under color of official right.  
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These commonly invoked charges are powerful anti-corruption tools: so powerful, in fact, that they appear to criminalize wide swaths of U.S. politics. Companies, unions and individuals give generously to politicians and their surrogates every year. An industrious prosecutor could find boatloads of officials who benefited from these gifts and then took action on behalf of those entities.
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Is this also honest services fraud and extortion? Legally speaking, the answer is: Who knows? The distinction between a successful fundraiser and a diabolical crook is frighteningly subtle.
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The Supreme Court insists that there is a clear distinction between the felony offenses that upended McDonnell and our tried-and-true system of allowing private entities and individuals to shower government officials with campaign contributions and other gifts. That distinction comes down to the contents of the official s mind.
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To prove honest services fraud or political extortion, a prosecutor must show that someone like McDonnell accepted a particular donation with the understanding that he would perform official acts in return. This agreement to trade gifts for acts is all that separates politics as usual from felony corruption.
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Critically, the corrupt agreement need not <a href=http://www.symbiose.ca/images/christianlouboutin.gwij.php>Christian Louboutin Outlet</a>  be documented, or even articulated. The prosecution s proof, as in the McDonnell case, normally takes the form of evidence that money went to a public servant and official acts followed. The jury can infer the requisite agreement from the circumstantial evidence. If a jury sees knowing winks and nods (the actual jury instruction) in the flow of money from donor to candidate, federal prison awaits.
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Consistent with these principles, the McDonnell jury s 90-page instructions informed it that it could not convict the ex-governor for the things it likely found most distasteful: his soliciting personal gifts, exercising terrible judgment or prompting underlings to help a guy who paid for a family wedding.
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Rather, the verdict rested on whether, in all these perfectly legal actions, the jury perceived the knowing winks and nods that are all the law requires to turn donations into federal felonies. That should send chills down the spines of public officials across the country. Which, admittedly, might not be so bad.
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It would be both wise (to avoid prison) and good policy for officials to discourage large donations, avoid decisions that benefit big donors and generally disengage from contributors. But until that happens, we are stuck with <a href=http://www.museosangennaro.com/Public/wdluk.php>Louboutin Shoes UK</a>  a system in which lots of public officials could be convicted of a felony but few are prosecuted.
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That s not healthy for a democracy. It gives prosecutors vast discretion to choose targets and undermines the credibility of prosecutions that do occur. Something has to give. We either need to strengthen our campaign finance laws or, if that s impossible, acknowledge that our public corruption laws are merely aspirational. A political system where any given federal, state or local official is just a wink, nod and a motivated prosecutor away from federal prosecution is untenable.
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鈥?The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News
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Revision as of 09:09, 25 September 2014

@@@ The Seattle Seahawks didn't need a "Fail Mary" to beat the Green Bay Packers in <a href=http://www.alportico.net/gosoc.php> true religion outlet</a> Week 1.They sure didn't do anything to lose their spot atop the AP Pro32 rankings.The Seahawks ran roughshod over the Packers in a 36-16 rout Thursday night to open the season, showcasing the same dominant defense that led them to the Super Bowl a year ago while also opening up an offense that could leave a lot of teams wondering what hit them.The beat-down persuaded everybody in the 12-member media panel that regularly covers the league to put Seattle on top. Denver had received one first-place vote in the preseason poll."No complacency for the defending champs, who pick up right where they left off with a dominating performance on both sides of the ball," said Bob Glauber of Newsday.The Seahawks held Aaron Rodgers to just 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw for two scores without a pick. The Seahawks finished with nearly 400 yards of offense, putting the game away with 19 straight points spanning halftime."You've been warned," said Ira Kauffman of The Tampa Tribune. "The Seahawks are prying open their offensive playbook."The Broncos were the clear-cut second choice, garnering all but one second-place vote. The San Francisco 49ers were third, followed by the Cincinnati Bengals -- a big mover after their win at Baltimore -- and the Philadelphia Eagles.Denver raced out to a 24-7 halftime lead against Indianapolis on Sunday, and then had to hold on after a frantic Colts comeback. The Broncos wound up winning 31-24."Little concerning that the defense gave up some late points," said former NFL coach <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/guccioutlet.onlinesalecc.php>Gucci Outlet Store</a> Herm Edwards, now with ESPN, "but that offense looks in postseason form."The 49ers rolled to a 28-17 victory in Dallas, getting a near-flawless performance from quarterback Colin Kaepernick and balance from running backs Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde."The best news out of the 49ers win was that its defense didn't play like a unit missing key players due to injuries and suspensions," Sports Illustrated's Jenny Vrentas said.Cincinnati moved from a tie for 10th into fourth place after its own road win, while the Eagles rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit with 34 unanswered points against Jacksonville. The performance left the Eagles with some mixed reviews.Kauffman, who had them fourth on his ballot, wrote that "Darren Sproles and Chip Kelly constitute a marriage made in NFL heaven," while Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News had them sixth, pointing out that "Nick Foles is on pace to get sacked 95 times this season."The Packers and New Orleans Saints were tied for sixth, followed by the New England Patriots and the Colts. The Arizona Cardinals rounded out the top 10, getting plenty of love after scoring 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to steal an 18-17 win over San Diego."I like the way this team fought through adversity," said ESPN's Herm Edwards.The Kansas City Chiefs, who made the playoffs last season, tumbled all the way to No. 24 after getting blown out by Tennessee. The Washington Redskins were No. 28, followed <a href=http://www.symbiose.ca/images/christianlouboutin.gwij.php>Christian Louboutin Outlet</a> by the New York Giants, the Cowboys, the Oakland Raiders and the St. Louis Rams.St. Louis lost quarterback Sam Bradford to injury before the season, and fill-in Shaun Hill during the first half of a 34-6 home loss to Minnesota. Aaron Davis finished out the game."No Sam Bradford. No Shaun Hill," Glauber wrote. "No chance of anything except a high draft pick in 2015."___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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