“Former Virginia Governor and convicted felon Bob McDonnell has converted his public policies supporting automatic felon voting rights into his effort to avoid federal prison. In federal court filings running many hundreds of pages, McDonnell has submitted hundreds of letters from individuals seeking leniency from United States District Judge James R. Spencer. These letters repeatedly cite McDonnell’s support for automatic felon voting rights. . . .

McDonnell’s efforts to avoid prison utilize his support for automatically restoring felon voting rights — and the hundreds of pages of letters reveal how McDonnell cozied up to activists and gave them what they wanted without any input from opposing sides.  One political appointee of Governor McDonnell, Martin D. Brown, cited McDonnell’s efforts to automatically restore felon voting rights as a reason to keep McDonnell out of prison.  Brown served as a commissioner to the state Department of Social Services. . . .

“Streamlining” under McDonnell’s felon voting edict meant jettisoning the longstanding individual review conducted by both Republican and Democrat governors.  No matter, though — prison looms for the ex-politician.  No mention in Harris’ letter of the “significant impact” the policy will have on the fate of the GOP, or that Democrat partisans have called for the change for decades.

Besides McDonnell’s inner political circle, the other group frequently mentioning his automatic felon voting restoration efforts in the avoid-jail letters are activists.  The letter from Clovia Lawrence is particularly revealing.  It reveals a long-term plan by McDonnell to secure automatic felon voting, a plan McDonnell certainly never once mentioned at any political event where I heard him speak.”

Full story at PJ Media.