Kaine’s acceptance of gifts in Virginia could create opening for Republicans

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post

By Rosalind S. Helderman July 22 at 8:20 PM

During his strenuous race for governor of Virginia in 2005, Timothy M. Kaine found himself chatting with James Murray, a wealthy venture capitalist, and acknowledged that the physical strain of the campaign was becoming difficult.

In response, Murray made an offer: Win or lose, after the November election, Kaine and his family should spend time at Murray’s vacation home on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique. The home, situated on an island point with stunning views of the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans, would be empty and Kaine could use it for free. “No sleeves off my vest,” Murray recalled in an interview.

Kaine disclosed that gift in his annual Virginia financial disclosure form, estimating that the free use of the home came at an $18,000 value. Such gifts were legal at the time in Virginia, which had permissive laws that allowed officeholders to accept gifts of any amount provided those valued at more than $50 were disclosed. But Republicans have signaled in recent days that they will use Kaine’s acceptance of that and other freebies as a line of attack against the newly selected vice presidential candidate, looking to stoke concern among Democrats that Kaine is not the progressive candidate they had hoped for.

“He followed the rules, but it’s a question of whether the Democrat Party can stomach that coziness with donors,” said former attorney general Jerry Kilgore, the Republican who Kaine defeated in 2005. “Their base, at this point, is anti-corporate America, anti-what these gifts stand for: access and influence.”

[image][/image]

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kaines-acceptance-of-gifts-in-state-office-could-offer-republicans-an-opening/2016/07/22/8508b2cc-4f7f-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

[ericson00]

1. when Trump's business dealings get out there, as in the bad ones

this "concern" will be moot.

[apcalc]

2. Republicans go after everything and anything, legal or not.

So, basically I don't care. They suck.

[JoePhilly]

3. "said former attorney general Jerry Kilgore, the Republican who Kaine defeated in 2005"

So now we're supposed to be concerned because a Republican Kane beat is concerned?

Fuck that noise.

[RBInMaine]

4. This is OLD news. All vetted. All answered. Much was routine travel expenses. Corporate media SHIT.

[Native]

49. Yup. I looked into it way back too. Mostly travel expenses and he claimed more than was required.

I can't see this getting any real traction.

[George II]

5. Who cares? There are a lot more important things to worry about.

[Squinch]

6. This seems to be the best they can come up with. I'm psyched now. This is very lame of them.

[sarae]

32. Exactly. And considering it's coming from Donald Trump...

It's like a convicted pedophile accusing someone else of having sex before marriage. Ridiculous.

[Thinkingabout]

7. Bob McDonald had his conviction overturned because the charges allowed under Virginia.

Trump has had lots of dirty deals, his Trump University is under investigation right now, Republicans are not without fault.

[Mc Mike]

25. My first thought was McDonnell too. +1, nt.

[pnwmom]

8. Funny the parts you left out.

Last edited Sun Jul 24, 2016, 05:41 AM - Edit history (2)

Like how Murray, the person who allowed him the use of the vacation home, said its value for the week was far lower than what Kaine reported -- and that Murray never had any state business.

How all of Kaine's gifts were scrupulously reported -- including gifts that fell below the reporting limit.

How most of Kaine's "gifts" came in the form of travel to work related events. For example, when the Obama campaign reimbursed him for his travel costs to their events, he reported it as personal gifts. He also reported state funds reimbursing him for travel as personal gifts.

Basically, because Virginia law allowed almost any gifts -- as long as they were reported -- there was no downside to reporting anything that could possibly be considered a gift -- including state reimbursements for travel. So, when in doubt, or when it wasn't clear how best to report any transfer, he reported it as a gift.

The subsequent Republican Governor, who took money, personal gifts, and loans from business connections -- and failed to report it -- just had his conviction overturned by the Supreme Court, 8 to 0 -- because the State failed to show that the Governor had done any favors in exchange for the gifts. So going after Kaine for carefully following all the Virginia rules and over-reporting gifts is the ultimate in hypocrisy for the Republicans. But that's nothing new.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kaines-acceptance-of-gifts-in-state-office-could-offer-republicans-an-opening/2016/07/22/8508b2cc-4f7f-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

“During his eight years as lieutenant governor and governor, Senator Kaine went beyond the requirements of Virginia law, promptly disclosing any and all gifts received, including those beneath the reporting threshold,” said Kaine spokeswoman Amy Dudley. “All disclosure information — the vast majority of which was for work-related travel expenses rather than gifts — has been publicly available for years and never once raised any concerns of impropriety.”

During his eight years as Virginia’s lieutenant governor and then governor, Kaine disclosed that he accepted $201,600 in personal gifts, according to data compiled from the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in state politics.

The majority of those gifts came in the form of air travel, including from the 2008 campaign of President Obama, which paid to fly Kaine across the country as a campaign surrogate. Under murky Virginia law, the proper way to disclose such political travel has been unclear; other politicians have disclosed it as a campaign contribution to their political action committee, rather than a personal gift, as did Kaine.

More than $32,000 of Kaine’s gifts were travel expenses paid by the state’s economic development agency during trade missions he took in his official role as governor.

Here is another article about all this:

http://www.vox.com/2016/7/23/12260394/tim-kaine-scandal-gifts

[underpants]

10. BAM!

[JustAnotherGen]

28. Great post PNW!

[lillypaddle]

29. This needs to be its own OP

Bam!

[MichiganVote]

37. +1

[mahina]

45. Agreed w Lilipaddle, please make this an OP

So we can all be ready. Maybe a few times.

Mahalo!

[George II]

50. Yeah, let's castigate him for being too meticulous and forthcoming when reporting gifts.....

....that in many cases weren't gifts but expenses in the performance of his job.

Why stuff like this is coming out on DEMOCRATIC Underground is beyond me.

[still_one]

51. Thanks pnwmom. That is why it is important to have the full story

[LenaBaby61]

54. Thank You...

For this

Not at ALL worried.

[MADem]

9. If it wasn't illegal, and it was disclosed, I simply do not care.

Howzabout The Con-ald release those income taxes....hmmmmm?

I think we'll wait forever before that happens.

[LenaBaby61]

55. Exactly....

[beachbum bob]

11. GOP has no opening here....they have much more to worry about between trump and pence

[whistler162]

12. Chris Mathews talked a little about this issue

on Friday. Said he had investigated it. Here is the Politico story on the subject. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/tim-kaine-virginia-veep-mcdonnell-clinton-224888

[Coolest Ranger]

13. With Trump

and his University troubles you going to post this. Okay, still support him

[TexasBushwhacker]

44. Yeah, Trump doesn't accept bribes

He just pays them.

[bucolic_frolic]

14. GOP complaining about 'coziness' with donors????

BRING IT ON!!!!

[giftedgirl77]

15. Lol....

[ms liberty]

16. No discussion of any possible negative attacks allowed

In order to be considered a good democrat and DU member, only positive cheerleading may be posted. If there is a subject to discuss that has any element of criticism of our nominees, even if it is in the interest of preparing a defense against the idiots that will be encountered online and IRL between now and November, please take said discussion elsewhere. Doing otherwise will almost certainly result in being branded a concern troll or worse. Thank you for your mindless support.

/sarcasm

[NurseJackie]

19. Good grief.

I see what you did there.


/sarcasm

[emulatorloo]

31. Drop the passive aggressive attacks on DU and DU'ers.

Obviously the article is still here, so drop your 'mindless' attack.

[LuvLoogie]

33. Go plant that scarecrow in another cornfield.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

53. Lol. Such drama.

[kacekwl]

17. Already are

This crap all over Facebook etc.

[NurseJackie]

18. Oh my! Someone should have told Hillary before she chose him as her running mate! :-P

[KewlKat]

21. :)

[KewlKat]

20. I'm more concerned with the GOP ticket NOT disclosing their income taxes.

We all speculate the bodies buried in them. We also feel in our guts that drumpf pays NO TAXES!!

perhaps his supporters might want to know he's not paying his fair share.

[Cryptoad]

22. Sarcasm is not an open ticket to break TOS!

/s

[tavernier]

23. Yeah that was tossed around when his name first came up.

As innocent as it was, the pukes need something to jump on. If had given CPR to a baby, the Fox headlines would read, Kaine Attempts to Eat Live Child.

[Gman]

24. They have a grave misconception of the Dem base

“He followed the rules, but it’s a question of whether the Democrat Party can stomach that coziness with donors,” said former attorney general Jerry Kilgore, the Republican who Kaine defeated in 2005. “Their base, at this point, is anti-corporate America, anti-what these gifts stand for: access and influence.”

Fatal mistake #1. Underestimate your enemy.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

26. Operating word here: DISCLOSED!! Try again. And Washington Post is full of shit.

[CBHagman]

27. Then we close that "opening" right on their Karl Rove-style fingers.

We all know that the Rove playbook is to attack opponents on their strengths, and within minutes of the Kaine announcement the vulgar, obnoxious Donald Trump, with his multiple bankruptcies and multiple wives, was styling the nice-guy senator from Virginia as "corrupt Kaine," as though alliteration would make it so.

We all know the media will for the most part be its usual unhelpful self, inclined to headlines such as Questions raised about such-and-such and New questions raised about this and that, using the he said/he said or she said/he said technique to pepper articles with dueling quotes.

We saw this go on with Al Gore and John Kerry, and we should know enough by now that whoever gets control of the narrative can shape history.

I'll repeat it: A vulgar, boorish billionaire with multiple bankruptcies and multiple wives and a brand that is toxic nastiness should not be able to pull this off in the age of social media, especially when so many people are genuinely horrified at the prospect of turning over the executive branch to someone who is ruthless and ignorant.

I must admit I thought Kaine an unexciting choice, but I can't disparage his skills (including fluent Spanish) and his overall character, so let's do this.

[JustAnotherGen]

42. I'll repeat it too

A vulgar, boorish billionaire with multiple bankruptcies and multiple wives and a brand that is toxic nastiness should not be able to pull this off in the age of social media, especially when so many people are genuinely horrified at the prospect of turning over the executive branch to someone who is ruthless and ignorant
.

[dhill926]

34. jesus....whatever...

just noise...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

35. " said former attorney general Jerry Kilgore, the Republican who Kaine defeated in 2005."

I'm sure the Washington Post meant to say "the Republican [font color=red]whom[/font] Kaine defeated in 2005."

Anyway....

Jerry Kilgore's son nephew Kyle was a delegate to the Republican convention. He was among the youngest of delegates.

Terry Kilgore

Terry Gene Kilgore (born August 23, 1961) is an American politician. A Republican, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1993, and became chair of the Commerce and Labor committee in 2008. He currently represents the 1st district in the far southwestern corner of the state, near Cumberland Gap.[1]

Kilgore's twin brother, Jerry Kilgore, was Attorney General of Virginia 2002–2005, and was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia in 2005, losing to Tim Kaine. Kilgore's mother, Willie Mae Kilgore, was the registrar of voters in Kilgore's home jurisdiction, Scott County, until December 2008.[2] He has two children, Kayla Wright Kilgore and Kyle Bellamy Kilgore.

Politics

Apr 10 2016, 3:44 am ET

Cruz-Supporting Delegates Picked in Virginia District Trump Won

by Michelle Cho

Wytheville, VA — Despite Donald Trump winning Virginia on Super Tuesday, two of three delegates elected in the first district convention here are supporters of rival Ted Cruz — which could matter if a second ballot were to take place at the national convention.

In the 9th congressional district, Donald Trump took over 47 percent of the votes on Super Tuesday. In Virginia's primary for this district, Ted Cruz won only about 19 percent of the votes.
....

"I want to vote for a conservative and that's what I know I'm getting with Ted Cruz. And with Donald Trump, it's a question mark," delegate Kyle Kilgore of Gate City told NBC News.

Kilgore says he will support Ted Cruz in the second ballot if it arises, because of his conservative principals.

@Kkilgore93

terry kilgore ?@delterrykilgore · Jul 21  Cleveland, OH

Great to be at RNC with Debbie and @Kkilgore93 great time!#RNCinCLE

Edited to clear up my confusion.

[onecaliberal]

36. It was legal. Let's move on.

[Arkana]

38. If anyone thinks this wasn't found out and vetted thoroughly by Hillary's vetting team,

they are deluding themselves.

[truthisfreedom]

39. It's all out there right in the open. Where's your tax returns, Donald?

Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald? Where's your tax returns, Donald?

[andym]

40. Not illegal, but it certainly looks bad

Allows the gop to continue their integrity attacks, and maybe their anti corporate attacks.
Integrity line of attack has been their most successful against democrats until President Obama.
President Clinton was particularly attacked this way, as well as Hillary Clinton through the Benghazi investigation, which resulted in the email investigation-- that's what's been holding her polling numbers down. They will likely really try to play this up.

[erpowers]

43. Post #8

If you have not looked at post #8 I think you should. Post #8 gives a rebuttal to the Kaine accepted money line of attack.

[asiliveandbreathe]

41. First, gifts reported - and NO quid pro quo - second

“He followed the rules, but it’s a question of whether the Democrat Party can stomach that coziness with donors,”

Seriously>>>really need a new line of attack...here's one fur ya dur fuhrer "The Democratic party and their voters cannot stomach drumpf" -

[wishstar]

46. Today Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC explained the gifts were completely legal and fully disclosed

She provided a thorough description exonerating Kaine's gifts as being properly disclosed under Virginia's rules, no favors involved and emphasized the matter had been thoroughly vetted by Clinton campaign.

[Helen Borg]

47. LALALALALALALA!

[glennward]

48. When you have already painted someone as the biggest crook in history and they still win and choose

a running mate that you try to label as a crook for accepting dinners and small gifts with no quid pro quo in sight they simply have no F**ks left to care about you or what you say.