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McAuliffe aide apologizes for ‘overzealous’ suggestion of job for senator’s daughter McAuliffe aide apologizes for ‘overzealous’ suggestion of job for senator’s daughter
(about 5 hours later)
RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s chief of staff apologized Friday for what he described as his “overzealous” effort to persuade a senator to remain in his seat in exchange for a job for his daughter. RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s top lieutenant apologized Friday after admitting that he had tried to keep a Democrat from quitting the evenly divided state Senate with the prospect of a lucrative state job for the senator’s daughter.
Paul Reagan left a voicemail message for former state senator Phillip P. Puckett in June, when Puckett was on the verge of quitting the General Assembly, saying that the senator’s daughter might get a top state job if he stayed to support the governor’s push to expand Medicaid, according to descriptions from three people who heard the recording. But it was not entirely clear to Richmond’s increasingly bewildered and antsy political class just what Chief of Staff Paul Reagan had done.
Puckett wound up resigning, flipping control of the chamber to Republicans and thwarting McAuliffe’s signature goal of expanding health-care coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Had he engaged in a crass and potentially illegal bidding war with Republicans who, in the middle of a standoff over the state budget and Medicaid expansion, wanted Democrat Phillip P. Puckett out of the Senate as desperately as McAuliffe’s administration wanted him in?
Puckett’s abrupt exit came amid accusations that Republicans had enticed him to leave with job offers for himself and his daughter, triggering an ongoing federal investigation and inflaming partisan passions in Richmond. Or had Reagan merely committed politics as usual with one decidedly inconvenient twist: a voice-mail message that eventually put his sausage-making on public display?
But the voicemail suggests that Puckett fielded a similar overture from Reagan. The shifting and sometimes contradictory explanations that flowed from McAuliffe’s office only added to the sense of disorientation in a state capital still recovering from the shock of seeing popular former governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) and his wife, Maureen, convicted of corruption in August. First, McAuliffe’s spokesman said that the governor had been unaware of Reagan’s actions before Thursday but didn’t object to them. On Friday, McAuliffe (D) said Reagan had made a mistake.
“In the fight to expand health care to uninsured Virginians, I was overzealous and acted with poor judgment,” Reagan said in a statement released by the governor’s office. “I certainly regret this and will always try to achieve the high standards demanded by Governor McAuliffe.” Richmond, a place with scant history of political scandal, faced the specter of another federal investigation winding its way into a governor’s office.
The governor also released a statement through his spokesman, saying, “Paul acted hastily and made an error in judgment — he acknowledges that and recognizes that it was inconsistent with the way I run my administration. I was disappointed that this occurred and have made it clear to every member of my staff that this is not how we do business. This is a lesson to my staff — people make mistakes — but it’s important that we learn from them and move on.” Since June, federal officials have been probing Puckett’s abrupt resignation, looking at whether Republicans used job offers for him and his daughter to lure him out of the Senate. Now, political observers wonder if the inquiry will have to expand to the potential job that Reagan dangled to try to make him stay.
“It appears now that the ethics commission in Virginia consists of the U.S. attorney for the Western District and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District,” said Bob Gibson, executive director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia, referring to the offices behind the Puckett and McDonnell investigations, respectively. “And that’s really sad.”
Some of McAuliffe’s harshest critics expressed wariness about the prospect that the investigation could expand, even as they contended that anything known about what Republicans offered Puckett paled next to the blunt link described in Reagan’s voice mail.
“This is the danger of criminalizing ordinary politics,” said Sen. Richard H. Black (R-Loudoun). “When you do that, it can come back to bite you. . . . If [the U.S. attorney] is going to investigate Republicans for job discussions, he can’t possibly ignore job offers by Democrats.”
Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, which convened a grand jury to investigate Puckett’s resignation, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy declined to say whether prosecutors had interviewed anyone in the office or subpoenaed any records. He also declined to explain why he initially declared forcefully — and erroneously — that no one on the staff had spoken to Puckett about a job. Coy refused to say whether he had made a mistake when he claimed to have spoken to everyone in the office — or whether Reagan had failed to reveal his message to Puckett.
The first account of Reagan’s actions came late Thursday, when The Washington Post reported that the longtime Virginia political hand had floated the idea of providing a top state job to Puckett’s daughter if the senator stayed in his seat. Reagan conveyed the suggestion in a voice mail that was described to The Post by three people who had heard it.
It had been known publicly since June that Puckett had been talking about a job for himself and a judgeship for his daughter when he abruptly stepped down that month. Puckett said at the time that there was no quid pro quo.
News of Reagan’s voice mail was the first indication that anyone working for McAuliffe — who as recently as last week called Puckett “despicable” for seeming to trade potential job offers for his seat — had offered a potential job as an enticement to stay.
Reagan mentioned the possibility of heading a state agency, including the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, a prestigious slot in the coal country of far southwestern Virginia where the Pucketts live.
“We would be very eager to accommodate her, if, if that would be helpful in keeping you in the Senate,” Reagan said in the message, according to a transcript provided to The Post and not disputed by McAuliffe’s office. “We, we would basically do anything.”
On Thursday, Coy said Reagan had made the offer because the Senate Republicans’ anti-nepotism policy was holding Martha Puckett Ketron’s judicial appointment “hostage.” She had been serving temporarily as juvenile judge but could not win a full appointment to the bench while her father was in the Senate.
Also Thursday, Coy said that McAuliffe was unaware of Reagan’s offer but was not displeased with his actions, saying, “The governor has full confidence in Paul Reagan.”
On Friday, Reagan issued a statement that gave a different rationale: advancing McAuliffe’s signature goal of expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, an effort that collapsed when Puckett eventually resigned, throwing control of the Senate to Republicans. He also apologized for letting his boss, the governor, down.
“In the fight to expand health care to uninsured Virginians, I was overzealous and acted with poor judgment,” Reagan said in the statement. “I certainly regret this and will always try to achieve the high standards demanded by Governor McAuliffe.”
And McAuliffe himself, who the night before was said to have had no objections to Reagan’s efforts, pronounced himself “disappointed.”
“Paul acted hastily and made an error in judgment — he acknowledges that and recognizes that it was inconsistent with the way I run my administration,” McAuliffe said in a written statement. “I was disappointed that this occurred and have made it clear to every member of my staff that this is not how we do business. This is a lesson to my staff — people make mistakes — but it’s important that we learn from them and move on.”
Reaction elsewhere in Richmond to the news was muted, with Democrats defending Reagan and Republicans pointing out what they see as Democrats’ hypocrisy for criticizing Puckett and the GOP even though Reagan made a similar gesture.Reaction elsewhere in Richmond to the news was muted, with Democrats defending Reagan and Republicans pointing out what they see as Democrats’ hypocrisy for criticizing Puckett and the GOP even though Reagan made a similar gesture.
“I’m obviously disturbed about the report that you all had in the paper this morning,” said House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) on a conference call with reporters on another topic. “Let’s see what happens with it. The thing that’s most troubling about it is the governor’s reaction to what all happened with Senator Puckett. He used some pretty strong language about what happened with Senator Puckett, and then to have this come forward a few days later is pretty surprising.”“I’m obviously disturbed about the report that you all had in the paper this morning,” said House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) on a conference call with reporters on another topic. “Let’s see what happens with it. The thing that’s most troubling about it is the governor’s reaction to what all happened with Senator Puckett. He used some pretty strong language about what happened with Senator Puckett, and then to have this come forward a few days later is pretty surprising.”
The governor’s spokesman initially denied Thursday that Reagan had made any potential job offers, but he later acknowledged that the call had been made after he was read a transcript of Reagan’s message given to The Washington Post. He stressed that McAuliffe had no knowledge of the overture until The Post inquired on Thursday, but he also defended Reagan's actions, said they do not compare to what Republicans did in June and emphasized that the governor stands behind his chief of staff.
“Mr. Reagan acted on his own to inform the senator that there were other available opportunities for which his daughter might apply,” McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said. “No further conversations about this topic ever occurred. No position was ever formally offered.”
Coy added: “The governor has full confidence in Paul Reagan,” Coy said.
Before Reagan issued his apology, two top Democrats in the state Senate said they saw nothing wrong with his behavior.Before Reagan issued his apology, two top Democrats in the state Senate said they saw nothing wrong with his behavior.
Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) echoed Democrats’ position that Reagan’s voicemail for Puckett does not rise to the level of the accusations against Republicans. Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) echoed Democrats’ position that Reagan’s voice-mail for Puckett does not rise to the level of the accusations against Republicans.
“I think it’s completely different from what certain Republicans are alleged to have done. It appears from the transcript I have seen that Paul Reagan was just trying to talk to Senator Puckett in a fashion to preserve the status quo,” McEachin said. “He wasn’t seeking to have Senator Puckett do anything. He was just saying that his daughter might have other options. On the other hand, what the Republicans are accused of is not preserving the status quo but allegedly offering Senator Puckett a job for himself and a judgeship for his daughter. That is wholly different.”“I think it’s completely different from what certain Republicans are alleged to have done. It appears from the transcript I have seen that Paul Reagan was just trying to talk to Senator Puckett in a fashion to preserve the status quo,” McEachin said. “He wasn’t seeking to have Senator Puckett do anything. He was just saying that his daughter might have other options. On the other hand, what the Republicans are accused of is not preserving the status quo but allegedly offering Senator Puckett a job for himself and a judgeship for his daughter. That is wholly different.”
Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) called Reagan’s offer “nothing out of the ordinary” and recalled then-governor James S. Gilmore III’s 1997 hire of a Democratic senator from Loudoun County, Charles Waddell, as his deputy transportation secretary, giving Republicans a one-seat advantage in the upper chamber.Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) called Reagan’s offer “nothing out of the ordinary” and recalled then-governor James S. Gilmore III’s 1997 hire of a Democratic senator from Loudoun County, Charles Waddell, as his deputy transportation secretary, giving Republicans a one-seat advantage in the upper chamber.
“I don’t think this hinges so much on whether you were offered the job but how it was done,” Saslaw said.“I don’t think this hinges so much on whether you were offered the job but how it was done,” Saslaw said.
Although he reserved judgment on whether Puckett did anything wrong in appearing to resign in exchange for a job at the tobacco commission, Saslaw said Reagan’s action was different because he “wasn’t fattening Puckett’s wallet, it was offering his daughter a job.”Although he reserved judgment on whether Puckett did anything wrong in appearing to resign in exchange for a job at the tobacco commission, Saslaw said Reagan’s action was different because he “wasn’t fattening Puckett’s wallet, it was offering his daughter a job.”
Puckett’s resignation came at a time of heightened sensitivity to ethics in Richmond, as former governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) and his wife, Maureen, were about to be tried on federal corruption charges. McAuliffe and other Democrats pounced on his departure as more proof that Richmond needed ethics reform. On the same day last week that he unveiled a new ethics commission, McAuliffe called Puckett “despicable” for seeming to trade his Senate seat for job prospects.
Reagan left the message on Puckett’s cellphone in the frenzied days leading up to the senator’s resignation in June. During the same period, the governor and Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) also called and tried to dissuade Puckett from leaving.
According to the people who heard the recording, Reagan suggested that the governor could make a top agency appointment available to Puckett’s daughter, Martha Puckett Ketron, who had been seeking a District Court judgeship. Under Senate anti-nepotism rules, she could not be appointed to the bench while her father served. She has been doing the job on a temporary basis, and it is unclear whether she will get the permanent appointment.
“I know there was a lot of frustration with your daughter, not, you know, getting a judgeship or something,” Reagan said, according to the transcript provided to The Post. “If there’s something that we can do for her, I mean, you know, we have a couple of big agencies here that we still need agency heads. We could potentially, potentially, subject to approval of the governor and so forth, you know, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy could be available.
“So we would be very eager to accommodate her, if, if that would be helpful in keeping you in the Senate. We, we would basically do anything. We just need you really, we need you for the rest of your term and beyond, but in the immediate future, we need you to help us get this Medicaid deal through and I think we’ve got a way to do it.”
Reagan, reached late Thursday, did not deny that he had left the message but offered no further comment. His use of a potential job offer in his failed bid to keep Puckett in the Senate could have political and perhaps even legal consequences for the administration.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Puckett gave up his seat in exchange for a job for himself on the state’s Republican-controlled tobacco commission and a judgeship for Ketron. Puckett has said there was no quid pro quo.
Prosecutors have heard the recording, according to two of the people who described it to The Post and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal matter. Officials in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia did not respond to requests for comment.
Puckett did not respond to a message seeking comment. His attorney, Thomas J. Bondurant of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, declined to comment.
Del. Terry Kilgore (R-Scott), the tobacco commission chairman who was involved in lining up a job for Puckett, declined to comment, as did his attorney, Thomas T. Cullen of Woods Rogers.
Regardless of whether prosecutors take an interest in Reagan’s message, it could be an embarrassment to Democrats, who have blasted Republicans for seeming to lure Puckett to leave with job offers. The accounts of the recording suggest that Reagan was exploring whether to make Puckett a counteroffer to stay.
Coy said that the job prospects Reagan floated to keep Puckett in the Senate were not on par with the GOP’s alleged efforts to lure Puckett out with their own offers. He said that long before potential job offers came into play, Senate Republicans had been trying to force Puckett out of the Senate by insisting that his daughter could not be appointed to the bench while he was a member.
“Any comparison between Mr. Reagan’s concern for the political treatment that Mr. Puckett and his family were receiving and the recent scandals are wholly without merit,” Coy said.
In June, as the House and Senate were mired in a months-long Medicaid standoff that threatened to shut down state government, Puckett unexpectedly stepped down.
The news broke along with word that he was expected to get a job as deputy director of the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission — and that his daughter was in line for a judgeship.
Puckett withdrew his name from consideration for the tobacco commission job. He acknowledged at the time that he was resigning, in part, to allow his daughter to serve as a juvenile court judge, but he said it was not because the judgeship was being offered as part of a deal.
Puckett’s service in the Senate was a well-known impediment to his daughter’s judicial appointment because of the Senate’s anti-nepotism policy.
Puckett’s supporters have contended that there was nothing unusual, much less illegal, about factoring political considerations into state appointments. They have recalled Gilmore’s appointment of Waddell, a move that gave the GOP a 20-to-19 edge in what had been an evenly divided Senate. Gilmore also appointed a Democrat to head the Department of Conservation and Recreation, creating an opening for a Republican to win a seat in the House.
Those moves upset Democrats but spurred no criminal probes.
Puckett had represented Southwest Virginia since 1998. But Republicans easily won his seat in a special election, solidifying GOP control of the legislature.
Reagan is a highly regarded longtime aide to some of Virginia’s most prominent politicians. He served as chief of staff to then-senator James Webb (D-Va.), communications director for Warner when he served as governor and chief of staff to Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.).
Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.