In a huge last-minute settlement, averting an embarrassing trial, the Republican Party of Virginia has settled the eavesdropping lawsuit brought against them by 33 Democratic plaintiffs. A two-day federal trial was set to begin on Thursday that would have seen Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Kilgore having to take the witness stand. The case has gotten closer and closer to sucking in Kilgore since the scandal began in March of 2002, and the whopper of a settlement — $750,000 shows just how eager that state Republicans are to protect their candidate.
I’m not about to second-guess this decision, so I can only assume that the trade-off for not getting this damaging testimony is the huge chunk that this settlement will take out of the Republicans’ coffers. The party has been hurting since the scandal initially emerged, and this isn’t going to help their image — or income — at all.
Best of all, this means that Kilgore will still be the nominee; he’s damaged goods, after all, so why take him out prior to his nomination? Whatever information that the Republicans don’t want coming out in court can still come out anyhow, and it will be nearly as damaging as it would have been in a courtroom setting. I’m thinking late October of ’05 would be a good time to make that public.
Cue Kilgore giving a speech about “values” and “morals,” with nary a mention of his role in a massive eavesdropping scandal. I guess that, like homosexuality, eavesdropping is one of those things that Virginia Republicans both enjoy and condemn.
The lady doth protest too much.