It's an election year in Virginia, and it doesn't help the state Republican Party that its slate of statewide candidates are dominated by right-wing extremists. It also doesn't help that the outgoing Republican governor of the commonwealth is in the middle of a scandal that now has an outside prosecutor.
Virginia's attorney general has appointed an outside prosecutor to investigate Gov. Bob McDonnell's financial disclosures, in a widening scandal over a political donor who wrote a $15,000 check for the wedding of the governor's daughter, and who was also a benefactor of the attorney general.
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the attorney general, who is also the Republican candidate for governor this year, said on Wednesday that he named the outside prosecutor last November to look into Mr. McDonnell's disclosures.
Mr. Cuccinelli said "information came to my attention" triggering the appointment of the prosecutor. His referral of the case to the Richmond commonwealth's attorney, Mike Herring, whose role is similar to that of a district attorney, "was not a conclusion that any violation occurred,'' Mr. Cuccinelli said in a statement.
Cuccinelli did not, by the way, make this announcement proactively, but rather, acknowledged the investigation after the Richmond Times-Dispatchuncovered the investigation through a Freedom of Information Act request.
What's more, it's not immediately clear whether Cuccinelli appointed an outside prosecutor because he's caught up in the same controversy, because the governor is currently working to help elect the state A.G., or perhaps a combination of the two.
Regardless, the scandal is an increasingly serious problem for the Virginia governor. For background on what the story is all about, take a look at our previous coverage.