[Originally published as a letter to the editor on July 25, 2015, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.]
Editor.
Congratulations to Governor McAuliffe on closing the Hardywood Brewery deal with a pot full of grants and tax incentives. After the earlier Stone Brewery deal, the squeaky wheel finally got some ”grease.” Most observers, myself included, might reckon this to be a good thing.
But let’s not forget. Bob McDonnell, our former elected governor, is about to go to jail over “quid pro quo.” Jonnie Williams, the ignoble courtier and Anatabloc salesman, is walking free, a receiver of such “official acts” as rubbing a few shoulders, a photo-op, and a dinner.
With Bob McDonnell’s arrest, the Feds got their man. Yippee! But I fail to distinguish the “official acts” of our two governors. And, with such overreaching judicial precedents now in place, I wonder if any of our elected servants is safe if a team of Federal prosecutors, for whatever suspicions, decides otherwise.
Donald Laslie
Powhatan, VA
LynnRMitchell.com 
[…] And still the culprit in it all, Jonny Williams, remains free, granted blanket immunity by federal prosecutors who turned a blind eye to his questionable and possibly illegal business dealings in order to go after the squeaky clean McDonnell. That is a bone of contention that many Virginians cannot overcome, as expressed in a letter to the editor by Powhatan resident Donald Laslie who wrote (see McDonnell case: Feds decide what constitutes quid pro quo): […]
[…] And still the culprit in it all, Jonny Williams, remains free, granted blanket immunity by federal prosecutors who turned a blind eye to his questionable and possibly illegal business dealings in order to go after the squeaky clean McDonnell. That is a bone of contention that many Virginians cannot overcome, as expressed in a letter to the editor by Powhatan resident Donald Laslie who wrote (see McDonnell case: Feds decide what constitutes quid pro quo): […]