If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen brings on a new dimension to the Governor’s Mansion this past week. The head chef, who was not vetted, had a criminal record for embezzlement. According to The Richmond Times Dispatch:
Controversy is simmering in the kitchen at Virginia’s two-century-old Executive Mansion. If it boils over, Gov. Bob McDonnell could get burned.
State police confirmed a criminal investigation into unspecified improprieties in the kitchen operation. Authorities say the mansion’s celebrity chef, Todd Schneider, is the focus. Schneider has left after nearly two years, saying he wanted to concentrate on his catering business.
No charges have been filed, no arrests made. There’s a lot we don’t know. However, newspaper reports indicate McDonnell’s staff did not conduct a required criminal-background check on Schneider. Had they, they’d have learned Schneider was convicted of embezzlement, for which he received a six-month suspended sentence.
That this is a sensitive investigation is an understatement. Personal or professional indiscretions — if that’s what they are — could, in the eyes of law enforcement, qualify as law-breaking.
That’s not what McDonnell needs, not now — not atop the battering he’s taking in public-opinion polls.
