Two Va. legislators request police investigation of veterans group

By Michael Sluss

RICHMOND

Two Democratic leaders in the House of Delegates are asking Gov. Bob McDonnell to put the Virginia State Police in charge of an investigation of an embattled veterans charity organization.

That organization, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, is being investigated by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for possible violations of the state’s charitable solicitation law. The group is under scrutiny in multiple states. VDACS launched its investigation last month after news stories raised questions about the organization’s practices, including solicitations in Virginia.

House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County, and Del. Ken Plum, D-Fairfax County, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, made their request in a letter to McDonnell this afternoon. The two Democrats suggested that violations by the U.S. Navy Veterans Association may extend beyond the state's charitable solicitation law.

The association’s national director, Bobby Thompson, contributed $67,500 to Virginia candidates and elected officials last year -- almost all Republicans - including $55,500 to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. During the same year, the association was quarreling with the state over whether it qualified for an exemption from annual registration requirements under the charitable solicitation law.

Armstrong and Plum questioned whether U.S. Navy Vets “exerted or attempted to exert undue influence on a candidate for state office in an attempt to counter an adverse ruling by Virginia's Office of Consumer Affairs regarding the Association's charitable exemption reporting status.”

“Because we are dealing with potential criminal misconduct outside the jurisdictional purview of the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs, we request that you immediately redirect the investigation to the Virginia State Police and that the scope of the investigation include all possible violations of state and federal law occurring in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including, but not limited to violations of our charitable reporting statutes,” the lawmakers wrote.

McDonnell spokeswoman Stacey Johnson said the administration is reviewing the letter.

"We have no further comment at this time and cannot comment on what action may or may not be taken by the State Police," Johnson said.

Cuccinelli has said that Thompson asked for nothing specific in exchange for his campaign contributions. During last year’s campaign, Cuccinelli proposed moving Virginia's consumer affairs department from VDACS to the attorney general’s office. Cuccinelli said earlier this month that he never discussed the idea with Thompson or anyone with the veterans group.

The House of Delegates this year passed legislation that would shift certain functions of the consumer affairs office into the attorney general’s office. But VDACS would have maintained jurisdiction over the charitable solicitations law. The bill, which Cuccinelli has said he supported, died in a Senate committee.

The U.S. Navy Veterans Association has been mired in controversy since March, when the St. Petersburg Times in Florida published a series of stories that raised questions about the association's fundraising, its expenditures and the existence of its members.

The association lobbied for Virginia legislation this year that could exempt it from annual registration requirements after July 1. The bill passed the General Assembly unanimously, and McDonnell signed it into law before becoming aware of the controversy surrounding the association, his staff has said.