Wed Jan 22, 2014 AT 7:55 AM EST
Four years and one week ago, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell gave the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. On Tuesday, he and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges in connection to their relationship with a donor named Jonnie Williams, reports the Washington Post and NY Times. McDonnell’s lawyers wasted no time, however, filing legal motions Tuesday challenging the legitimacy of the criminal indictment, trying to paint the ex-governor’s actions as unexceptional rather than corrupt. Politico reports McDonnell’s legal team invokes the names of President Obama and former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, arguing that Obama has traded official appointments for political gifts and that as governor Kaine accepted far more in personal gifts than McDonnell.
