Bob McDonnell’s Daughter’s Wedding Dinner Now a Matter for the F.B.I.

Bob McDonnell speaks during the Share Our Strength's Virginia No Kid Hungry campaign launch at Barcroft Elementary School on June 7, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia. ARLINGTON, VA - JUNE 07: Bob McDonnell speaks during the Share Our Strength's Virginia No Kid Hungry campaign launch at Barcroft Elementary School on June 7, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)
Photo: Kris Connor/Getty2011 Kris Connor

That Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has accepted gifts from a maker of dietary supplements called Star Scientific, including $15,000 worth of catering at his daughter’s 2011 wedding, has been pretty well covered since the Washington Post reported it last month. But now it’s a matter for the F.B.I. even though Virginia doesn’t put any limit on the size of gifts its elected officials can accept, as long as they report them. The F.B.I. is interested not in whether McDonnell accepted the catering and other gifts, but whether actions he and his wife took to promote Star’s business, such as letting the company hold a 2011 lunch in the governor’s mansion, represented a tit for tat deal. And the closer they get to a corruption investigation, the more McDonnell’s 2016 presidential hopes dim.

F.B.I. Investigating Gov. Bob McDonnell