The name Star Scientific keeps popping up in the news and it always is attached, in some way, to both the current governor, Bob McDonnell, or the wannabe governor, Ken Cuccinelli. This association is usually surrounded by the oft-unspoken words, OOOPS or I forgot.
The Governor attracted some attention by not declaring that the CEO of this company, one Jonnie Williams, paid $15k for his daughter’s wedding reception. McDonnell said he didn’t declare it because the gift was to his daughter. Well, so much for traditional values where the parents of the bride pay for the wedding. Sorry Bob, but do you think Jonnie would have sprung for the bill if you weren’t the Guv of VA?
Ken Cuccinelli also has gotten into political hot water over this same company. The latest is the fact that he failed to report some gifts, namely an almost $5000 vacation to William’s Smith Mountain Lake vacation home and a catered turkey dinner. Cuccinelli also admitted to forgetting to report a plane trip to NYC financed by Williams. In all, Cuccinelli has received about $18,000 in gifts from the CEO of Star Scientific in the past 4 years.
$18,000 might not seem much to a high roller. To put this amount in perspective, many seniors don’t even get $18,000 a year in social security benefits. I guess it pays to be a Virginia high roller. Cuccinelli also owned stock in Star Scientific. This sure seems like a cozy relationship. Star Scientific used to be named Star Tobacco. It appears they make supplemental products, as in supplemental vitamins of a sort.
So the question still remains, what is this company and what does it want? No one gives away this much money to politicians without wanting something, do they? Meanwhile, will both Cuccinelli and McDonnell continue to reap the benefits of their respective high profile positions?
What is Star Scientific?
Further reading:
Well, when you paint as yourself as advocating G-d’s policies, I guess your better be close to perfect. Cuccinelli is just a despicable person in my mind, such a hyprocrite.
http://www.starscientific.com/
Corporate Profile
Our corporate mission is centered on reducing toxins in tobacco so that adult consumers can have access to products that expose them to sharply reduced toxin levels. The company was founded on the belief that is technologically possible to lessen the health risks associated with long-term tobacco use, and particularly smoking.
No kidding folks, “healthy smoking” ???
When you apply the same level of scrutiny to McAuliffe, maybe this will be worth discussing. The dollar amounts here are chump change compared to the GreenTech Venture, which offered to help with green cards for Chinese investors that put up more than $500K.
I am not real thrilled that we potentially could have a Virginia governor who actively sought funding from Chinese foreign nationals.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/us/in-virginia-governors-race-electric-cars-could-backfire-for-terry-mcauliffe.html?pagewanted=all
News flash. Mcauliffe isn’t in office right now. He doesn’t have the same standards as a contender as they do.
@Kelly
Green cards for the Chinese investors is nothing compared to the damage that Cuccinelli has done.
What’s the problem with raising capital on international markets, Kelly? I have a lot of trouble imagining a scenario where it is not a good thing to get international investors in US projects (the defense industry is where I might draw some lines, but the lines aren’t absolute, and defense is an exception that proves the rule, in my mind). Any businessman who isn’t actively seeking to raise capital internationally is incompetent. I also don’t see any problem with providing assistance to emigres in navigating our completely byzantine labyrinth of cock-eyed immigration restrictions. Every tech business in the US has to do that to get top talent.
McAuliffe is a wheeler-dealer, whether raising funds for the Clintons or with his glorifed golf cart business. The problem is not his car company, but that he can offer no evidence of any capacity for governance (not that that particular lack is a rare thing in politics anymore) and is asking Virginians to just take it on faith that being Governor is a good place for him to put his toe in the water. This was an eminently winnable race for the Democrats if they had bothered to put forward a serious candidate. But they didn’t and will now probably pay a ridiculous price at the polls for ceding the contest before it began.
McDonnell has done a lot of good things as Governor. I regard him as an honorable man personally, and fear he may have lost focus on the details of this kind of thing (i.e., the Star goo). That’s not offered as an excuse, necessarily, but a statement that I believe him to be a person of strong individual integrity who has been a dedicated, public spirited Governor. My hunch is that some people around him (and by that, I think perhaps even within his family) weren’t as sensitive as they should have been to appearances. I hope that this does not detract from Virginians’ appreciation that they got a good effort and governance product from their last three governors, and that Bob McDonnell, given the efforts he made on their behalf, particularly in the last session of the GA, may have had to put the public ahead of party far more than either of his two competent predecessors.
I would agree with you on Bob McDonnell except for him being lead astray by the social conservatives who can’t keep their nose out of perople’s personal business.
The TRAP Laws and the ultra-sound requirement have ruined, in my opinion, any good McDonnell has done.
Scout, Cuccinelli has shown bad governance at every turn. I would take a neutral record over a bad record any old day of the week.
@Moon-howler
News flash. If the guy becomes beholden to the Chinese, he should never get the opportunity to be in office.
Why would he be beholden to the Chinese.
newsflash, if you piss the women of Virginia off and continue to try to make difficult personal decisions FOR them, they are not going to vote for you.
Beholden in what way? If one uses their wealth for investments here, what’s the problem with that? Is it any different than Swiss or German capital? Capital is fungible.
@ Moon: I wasn’t pom-pom-ing for the Cooch. But I would be surprised if you thought McAuliffe was the optimal candidate to oppose him. I think Cuccinelli has a very good chance to win the general election. If he does, it is because the Democrats did not provide a credible candidate. Cuccinelli is voraciously ambitious and is an indefatigable campaigner. Opponents have to bring their A Game and can never rest until the day after the polls close.
I really think Terry can beat him. Optimal candidate…no. But he has some good qualities.
Cooch has many enemies and they will pour massive effort into defeating him. McAuliffe can win if he just remembers he is a Virginian by adoption and acts accordingly. He needs to act humble and appreciate the old guard. Virginians don’t like having personal decisions made for them by the government. That will be the cooch’s downfall.
I would really like to know if Williams even knew the Gov’s Daughter. Does the Gov really believe that this was an arms length transaction? Is the Gov’s Mansion the proper place to display and launch products of a company – is this a regular thing? Free vacations, private jet use, etc – does not look good – legal maybe – but they should have known better. Especially Cooch, who advertises himself to be better than most.
With the Gov not revealing the payment, and the Cooch avoiding reporting the stock transactions – I feel that they were really trying to distance themselves from Star Scientific. If they wanted to distance themselves (while the tax case moves forward) – they are not doing a good job. Cooch only recused himself after the missing stock transactions were reported.
@Scout
There are specific issues with doing business with the Chinese. By beholden, I mean financially. Let’s suppose that a Chinese investor comes up with the last $10M needed to keep the business afloat and McAuliffe makes millions as a result. Now let’s assume he becomes governor. When the Chinese investor demands that production be moved to China, where would loyalties of the governor be? Virginia’s workers or his investors.
More seriously, let’s further suppose there is an ITAR issue for new technology that could be dual use. As with all such issues, there is always subjectivity and interpretation involved. Would a governor with financial interests in China make the same hard-nosed choices as someone else that’s not conflicted?
Investment from Germany or other NATO partners is a little different than with China since the latter is hostile in some ways.
Does this mean you won’t be voting for McAuliffe? Didn’t think so.
I wasn’t aware it was not legal to do business with the Chinese. Has anyone told the US govt? How about companies like Apple and Walmart. Has anyone told them?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that Americans should not do business with the Chinese …. quite the contrary. In fact, I agree with Scout that it would be poor business practice to avoid the Chinese and their investment.
But the point is that someone gearing up as a candidate for Virginia governor should be reducing financial ties with foreign entities, not increasing them.
I cannot figure out why anyone would consider McAuliffe, other than the fact that he is pro-abortion. He has never held office and has demonstrated talent only in raising money and peddling influence. His scheme to attract Chinese investors with green cards greatly enhances my opposition to his candidacy.
Kelly, no one is pro abortion. In fact, that term is as unacceptable on this blog as the term ‘illegals.’
I would think that you, of all people, would feel that Virginians should be able to make their own deeply personal decisions about something as reproduction. I am frankly shocked that you feel that the government should be making those kinds of decisions for everyone else.
Abortion is just a small portion of the concept of reproductive rights that involves education, prevention, funding of services, child care, parent leave, and yes, even adoption. Yes, Terry McAuliffe supports reproductive rights. He trusts the people of Virginia to make these deeply personal decisions rather than the government making them for the individual.
McAuliffe does have plenty of experience in raising money and persuading people to support his ideas. That sounds like he would be great for Virginia. You would want a beauracrat or someone with mixed experience?
No Republican has any right to speak of anyone else ‘infuence peddling’ after McDonnell and Cuccinelli. By the way, where has McDonnell been recently? Didn’t he get his passort stamped somewhere overseas recently? Oh yes, silly me. He was in Asia,including China. He was looking for business opportunities.
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/virginia/dp-nws-mcdonnell-asia-trip-20130419,0,3366561.story
You are walking a mighty tight rope there.
“I think Cuccinelli has a very good chance to win the general election. If he does, it is because the Democrats did not provide a credible candidate.”
I don’t agree. Cooch has intra-party problems that TMac does not, namely he pissed a lot of people off when he decided to step over Bolling for the big seat. I hear some version of this tale almost every weekend on the cocktail and bbq circuit. Well-heeled NOVA Republicans that are chiefly concerned with the business climate are very wary of the guy, and I sure didn’t see this level of discontent in the run up to McDonnell’s election.
He’s got to use the convention and subsequent outreach to bring this contingent into the fold. This is going to be low turnout, base-on-base. If he can heal those divisions then you might be right about his chances, but that’s a mighty big if.
TMac isn’t totally unacceptable either. From where I sit, he talks like, looks like, and smells like someone I could do a deal with. In other words, he’s a rational actor, and that appeals to a lot of business minded individuals.
I agree with Cato. Cooch won’t have a cakewalk to victory. Many women are pro-business but against Cooch’s social agenda. McAuliffe has the business experience to attract those people. A Cooch victory will put Virginia on the map for all the wrong reasons.
The late night comediennes are rooting for Cooch. All that material could keep them busy for a year. I hear Maddow and letterman and stewart are salivating at the thought of such easy pickings.
Colbert will be careful guarding his sister who will win her election.
Taking advantage of the EB-5 Visa program will hardly count as being beholden to the Chinese – how many Chinese people will have the 500K to invest? Why is McAuliffe any different in taking advantage of the current system for his business? And, I am certainly not a supporter of McAuliffe (nor Cooch).
Terry McAuliffe would do well to watch his own behind. He has 25% of GreenTech, founded by Charles Wang in 2009. GreenTech’s parent company is Wang’s Capital Wealth Holdings (CWH), which is incorporated in that notorious overseas tax shelter known as the British Virgin Islands. Can anyone say Mitt Romney and Dem campaign hypocrisy?
I don’t think that really hurt Mitt Romney all that much. I think what killed him is thinking that half the citizens were the untouchables.
Heh heh, there are “offshores” and then there are “offshores.” BVI is the “Big Leagues” of tax shelters, hiding trillions from the taxmen here and elsewhere. BVI has a reputation for being one of the most secretive and walled off tax shelter sytems in the world — a favorite for the Chinese movement of their money.