It was kind of an open secret that Bob McDonnell wanted to run for president in 2016.

Maybe he still does. However, the news out of Virginia — where he served a single term as governor — is pretty bad. Seems the former Republican governor has been indicted, along with his wife, for illegally accepting lavish campaign gifts from donors.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/196019-former-va-gov-bob-mcdonnell-and-wife-charged-with-federal

A federal grand jury has indicted the McDonnells on 14 counts of receiving illegal gifts from Jonnie R. Williams Sr.

Ex-Gov. McDonnell issued a statement today declaring the gifts were legal, yet he still apologized to the residents of Virginia for exercising poor judgment.

The indictment says McDonnell allegedly did favors for Williams in return for the gifts, which of course he has denied.

I won’t comment on the merits of the case, given that I don’t know much about the matter in question.

I think it’s relatively safe to conclude, though, that Bob McDonnell’s presidential aspirations have been tossed into the trash can … no matter how this case turns out. That’s how these things usually play out.

Remember when John Edwards was thought to be the Democrats’ golden boy? That didn’t work out too well, either. These kinds of investigations have an amazing shelf life, as the former Virginia governor is likely to learn.