Earlier this year, it was reported that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe offered perks to a state senator’s daughter. In exchange, that state senator, Phillip Puckett, would delay his resignation from the legislature.
Puckett’s resignation would have thrown the balance of power in the Virginia Senate to Republicans, limiting McAuliffe’s ability to steamroll his leftwing agenda on the people of Virginia. McAuliffe’s job offer to Puckett’s daughter was supposed to be a sweetener to keep Puckett in office.
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Senator Mark Warner also called Puckett’s son, Joseph, to offer Puckett’s daughter a federal judgeship:
Warner was part of a string of high-powered Virginia Democrats who in late May and early June pressed then-state senator Phillip P. Puckett not to go through with plans to give up his seat in the middle of a bitterly partisan battle over health care.
A Warner spokesman acknowledged Friday that the conversation occurred, but he emphasized that the senator had not made an explicit job offer.
Quick question: do nods and winks hold up in court?