By Evan Perez CNN Justice Correspondent
4:30PM EDT Monday, May 23rd, 2016
Washington (CNN)Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and prosecutors from the Justice Department's public integrity unit, U.S. officials briefed on the probe say.
The investigation dates to at least last year and has focused, at least in part, on whether donations to his gubernatorial campaign violated the law, the officials said.
McAuliffe wasn't notified by investigators that he is a target of the probe, according to the officials.
"The Governor will certainly cooperate with the government if he is contacted about it," said Marc Elias, attorney for McAuliffe Campaign, in a statement to CNN.
The story immediately continues on to note that: “As part of the probe, the officials said, investigators have scrutinized McAuliffe's time as a board member of the Clinton Global Initiative, a vehicle of the charitable foundation set up by former President Bill Clinton.” However, “There's no allegation that the foundation did anything improper; the probe has focused on McAuliffe and the electoral campaign donations, the officials said.”
As usual, spokespeople for the DoJ and the FBI declined to comment.
“The investigation remains active and ongoing,” acccording to CNN. Among other subjects, a $120,000 campaign donation from Chinese businessman and delegate to China’s National People’s Congress Wang Wenjiang has drawn the “interest” of U.S. law enforcement. The article also notes that Wenjiang donated $2,000,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
CNN also highlighted the fact that “McAuliffe is the second consecutive Virginia governor to be investigated by Justice Department and the FBI. In 2014, Bob McDonnell was convicted of corruption charges related to $175,000 in loans and gifts he received from a donor and friend. The Supreme Court is weighing an appeal of the conviction.”
McAuliffe was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign, and chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. He also campaigned for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Iowa Democratic caucuses.
# # #
