According to the State Board of Elections website, Del. John O'Bannnon III (R-73) donated $1,000 to Phil Hamilton on August 6, 2009, even though serious allegations of ethics violations were raised against Hamilton as early as July 30. In other words, when O'Bannon gave $1,000 to Hamilton, he almost certainly knew that Hamilton was facing a potential major ethics scandal. By the third week of August, leaders in both the Republican and Democratic parties would call on Hamilton to resign. But John O'Bannon thought it was fine to give Hamilton $1,000 on August 6, after the initial corruption story had broken? What does this say about John O'Bannon? There seem to be two main possibilities: 1) he was completely oblivious and clueless to what's going on with his fellow Republican delegates, even a major ethics scandal reported in the Virginian-Pilot and other major newspapers; or 2) he was aware of the scandal but didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The problem is, if #1 is correct, then why didn't O'Bannon demand his money back after the full scope of the scandal became clear?
Which brings us back to the second possibility, that O'Bannon has no problem with slimy, corrupt politics where powerful politicians use their political influence for personal gain. Thus, instead of denounce Hamilton's blatant pay-to-play politics, asking for his money back, and calling for Hamilton to resign, O'Bannon continues to support Hamilton with his $1,000. The question for John O'Bannnon then becomes, "Why do you support such blatant corruption and unethical behavior as we see exhibited here?"
A few more questions for John O'Bannon:
1. Why would you donate in the first place to someone with huge ethics charges surrounding him?
2. Even if you didn't know the full extent of the allegations at the time, why didn't you ask for your donation to be refunded when you found out?
3. Do you think what Phil Hamilton did was ethical?
4. Does you think that Phil Hamilton ought to resign or do you continue to fully support him?
5. If you DO think Hamilton ought to resign, will you make a public statement and ask for your money back?
We'll see what happens in coming days. But no matter what, one thing's for sure: almost a decade in office has seriously clouded John O'Bannon's judgement. Which is one of the many reasons I say, GO TOM SHIELDS!
