On November 3, 2009, Robert McDonnell was elected the 71st governor of Virginia. When Mr. McDonnell took office, he was struggling financially. A real estate LLC (Mobo) that he owned with his sister was losing more than \(\$ 40,000\) each year. By 2011 , they owed more than \(\$ 11,000\) per month in loan payments. Each year, their loan balance increased, and by 2012, the outstanding balance was nearing \(\$ 2.5\) million. Mr. McDonnell and his wife also had a combined credit card balance exceeding \(\$ 74,000\), which, by September 2010 , had grown to \(\$ 90,000\).

Shortly after the election, the McDonnells met Jonnie Williams, the founder and CEO of Virginia-based Star Scientific Inc. Star was close to launching a new product: Anatabloc. For years, Star had been evaluating the curative potential of anatabine, an alkaloid found in the tobacco plant, focusing on whether it could be used to treat chronic inflammation. Anatabloc was one of the anatabine-based dietary supplements Star developed as a result of these years of evaluation.

The McDonnells had used Williams's plane during his campaign, and he wanted to thank Williams over dinner in New York. During dinner, Williams ordered a \(\$ 5,000\) bottle of cognac, and the conversation turned to the gown Mrs. McDonnell would wear to the inauguration. Williams mentioned that he knew Oscar de la Renta and offered to purchase Mrs. McDonnell an expensive custom dress. Following this dinner, the McDonnells and Mr. Williams began a relationship depicted in the following chart.

Mr. McDonnell was convicted of conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud, three counts of honest-services wire fraud, conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right, and six counts of obtaining property under color of official right.' He appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision. \({ }^{8} \mathrm{Mr}\). McDonnell appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the court reversed his conviction on the grounds that there was no official government action taken in exchange for all the Wiliams favors. The case against Mr. McDonnell was then dismissed............

 Discussion Questions

 1. Give a summary of what was going back and forth between the McDonnells and Mr. Williams.
2. What was Mr. Williams looking to obtain from the governor and Mrs. McDonnell?
3. Why is the tern official act important on appeal? Was there a quid pro quo? Is there a conflict of interest?
4. Despite what the court concluded in McDonnell v. U.S., evaluate the ethics of the McDonnells and Williams's conduct.