Farewell: McDonnell apologizes after gift scandal
Jan 9, 2014, 2:50 AM
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Outgoing Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell apologized Wednesday in a major address to state lawmakers for a gift scandal that deeply eroded his political standing. But he claimed strong economic stewardship and new transportation funding as key achievements.
McDonnell said in his last annual State of the Commonwealth address _ a major political event each year in Virginia _ that he’d broken no laws and afforded no one special treatment. But he conceded in the speech to assembled members of the state House and Senate that his actions left an “adverse public impression.”
The governor is currently under federal and state investigation for accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of gifts from a former chief executive of a dietary supplement maker. McDonnell has not been charged with any crime.
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