McDonnell and Cuccinelli play defense in the ongoing scandal saga surrounding Jonnie Williams Sr.

Virginia’s attorney general and governor both played defense on Friday as the questions surrounding their relationship with a Goochland County businessman, Jonnie R. Williams Sr., continues to chip away at both of their political aspirations for higher elected office.

While Williams attempted to “keep his company solvent and out of legal trouble,” he continued to distribute hefty political donations and thousands of dollars in gifts. Williams has been under federal investigation for securities issues.

As a testament to just how close McDonnell, Cuccinelli, and Williams were (and presumably still are), neither McDonnell or Cuccinelli have sought to distance themselves entirely from Williams. No doubt, each has concluded that such an audacious attempt to do so would only throw an even more concentrated 

spotlight on to their already suspect relationships.

McDonnell has said that he considers Williams Sr. a friend while Cuccinelli has reportedly stated that he has maintained a “friendly relationship” with Williams Sr.

When asked by the Richmond Times Dispatch for a disclosure of all Jonnie Williams’s gifts and political donations, both politicians sent back emailed responses. While Cuccinelli’s response wasn’t mired down in vague political speech, McDonnell’s response was. According to one of McDonnell’s spokesman, “Gifts and contributions from Mr. Williams and many other individuals and companies were disclosed on the governor’s statements of economic interest in 2011 and 2012.” Fellow Virginians, this is public relations mistake number one: being vague or lying under the spotlight of a political scandal.

I would also think that McDonnell would want to quickly and completely disclose any and all political gifts and donations to the public to put this scandal behind him, unless of course he has something to hide.

In other words, both politicians have acted like they have something to hide and given the circumstances of this case, there’s probably good reason for them to act in this manner.

The unfortunate truth about this latest scandal in Virginia politics is that if the mainstream media were to search deeper into the goings-on of Virginia’s politicians, they would probably find a whole lot more ‘conflicts of interest’, albeit on a smaller and subtler scale. Cuccinelli’s and McDonnell’s greatest sin is that they are in the primetime spotlight of Virginian politics.

Republican politics (with a little “r”) is greased by the deals, the bargains, the gifts, and the favors of those in politics and the private sphere. It just so happens that Cuccinelli and McDonnell got caught in the eye of the storm, a storm from which they may not recover.