MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript - Executive Pay

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MADDOW: That was how he apologized for equating the IRS to the Gestapo. They`re OK, about to be like the Holocaust. But not yet. See? I`m sorry.

Yes, Paul LePage is embarrassing. After investigating reporting on the lobbyists he put in charge of environmental issues in the state of Maine, Paul LePage responded by banning the whole state government from talking to three of the largest newspapers in Maine -- a blanket comment on all matters from the entire government. Just trying to stop newspapering in his state.

So after that, and after the Nazi stuff, after telling the NAACP to kiss his butt, that was his exact phrase, after saying estrogen links chemicals in baby bottles aren`t harmful because they just give women little beards.

Also remember his theory that windmills are a conspiracy. Windmills secretly have little motors inside them that make them spin. Yet Paul LePage, the Republican governor of Maine, is an embarrassment. He`s just a disaster PR-wise. Right?

Even the state Republicans think that Paul LePage is a disaster. The assistant leader in the state Senate for the Republicans just wrote this op-ed lamenting the unfortunate tone being set by our chief executive. His use of vulgarity and school yard taunts.

The assistant leader says, as a lifelong proud Republican who has overjoyed to see a Republican elected back into the Blaine House three years ago, I have one thing to say, "I a embarrassed," end quote. Republican Governor Paul LePage is embarrassing even to the Republicans in his own state.

You know who`s doing a fund-raiser for Paul LePage right now, right this second in Maine? Jeb bush. Oh, God, shame of what it takes to run for president.

Thanks to the longtime Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, Jeb Bush has ties to Maine and he seems to be trying to run for president. So, today, Jeb Bush has to go wrap this Gestapo Vaseline albatross around his neck forever. Poor Jeb Bush.

That`s one kind of embarrassing when it comes to American politicians. The other kind of embarrassing is less about style and more about substance. It`s about policy that is embarrassing.

This one`s a little slipperier because, you know, while calling people Nazis is kind of a timeless embarrassment, policy embarrassments like, say, mandating forced vaginal ultrasounds for the women in your state, even when it`s against doctors orders, that kind of things starts off embarrassing, engenders national ridicule and protests at your state capitol and people across the country start calling you governor ultrasound.

But then, when it`s a policy matter, sometimes the embarrassment wears off. Since governor ultrasound, Bob McDonnell, became more famous for forced ultrasounds in Virginia than anything else about his governorship, since that probably cost him his shot at the vice presidential spot on the Mitt Romney ticket, since then, forced ultrasounds have just stopped embarrassing white guy Republican governors.

Since Bob McDonnell, we have forced ultrasound bills signed into law from Republican Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin, and Republican Governor Mike Pence in Indiana, and just this weekend, the Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio, forcing women to have ultrasounds against their will, primarily vaginal ultrasounds against their will, even against their doctor`s will. That used to be a really embarrassing thing for Republican politicians. But not anymore, I guess. They`re all sort of just going for it now.

So, stylistic temperamental tacky outlandishness in a politician. That is timeless embarrassment. The Vaseline thing, the Nazi thing, it`s just never going to be OK. Policy outlandishness, on the other hand, fades in and out with the boundaries of propriety in the two political parties. Sometimes it`s very embarrassing to be governor ultrasound.

Sometimes, hey, it`s what everybody`s doing. But what`s happening right now in Republican politics, a big deal Republican politician, a national figure is crossing over from just being a shock to the conscience guy on policy to also just being kind of Paul LePage, just being plain personally shocking as a guy.

This is a path that is not well trod, but Bob McDonnell doing his best.

Virginia`s Republican governor used to be, yes, OK, a little out there on policy, a little extreme as a social conservative, but, geez, personally, great manners. Generally, a respectable guy. He seems decent. He looks the part. Look at that square jaw. Look at that hairline. He`s definitely not a Paul LePage embarrassing to be seen with problem, right? Not this handsome guy.

Used to be. But now did you hear about the stretch Hummer limo thing? The stretch Hummer limo is the latest thing in the bob McDonnell story. The latest thing that he and his family reportedly took as part of what he thinks he is entitled to take because he is governor of Virginia. Every day it`s a new thing.

But here`s what has been reported so far. This is just what he has not denied. The stretch Hummer limo that he took, it was white. He took rides in a stretch Hummer limo from his daughter`s church wedding to the reception, two hours or so worth of rides for all the wedding guests in the stretch Hummer.

Also, a Ferrari. A loaner Ferrari for Bob McDonnell to drive. Apparently, it was also right.

A $10,000 Oscar de la Renta suede jacket for the wife. A Louise Vuitton hand bag presumably also for the wife. Two pairs of designer lady shoes, a designer dress.

A liver cleansing gastrointestinal cleanse product. Yes. I don`t know.

Vitamins for Bob McDonnell`s dog. He took dog vitamins. Body wash. A wedding dress for the governor`s daughter. A chicken dinner for the wedding that cost $15,000. For the record, we do not know if this was the exact chicken preparation from the dinner. This is for your reference only.

Also, he took deodorant on the taxpayers` dime.

Energy drinks that are called Boost. I`ve never had one. An engraved $6,000 Rolex watch. A stay at a lakeside Virginia vacation home. Breath freshening strips. Dry cleaning for the McDonnell children`s clothing. Sunscreen.

Nasal spray. Something "The Washington Post" called sleep inducing elixirs.

Also, cash. What "The Washington Post" described today as tens of thousands of dollars of payments to the McDonnell family.

That is at least a partial list of things that the Republican governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, has either reportedly charged to the taxpayers of Virginia by just taking them from the executive mansion, even after he was warned that he`s supposed to pay for his own body wash, himself. He`s either taken the stuff for himself and his family and charged the taxpayers of Virginia for it, or he has taken the stuff as gifts since he has been governor -- some of those gifts disclosed and some of them not. And this is on top of the allegations from the former executive chef at the governor`s mansion who has produced a whole other lists of things he says the McDonnell family took for their own use from the mansion at taxpayers` expense.

Things like pots and pans that were taken out of the mansion and given
away. Pots and pans. Liquor.

The chef who was under indictment for embezzlement gets his day in court next week on July 8th. So, mark that day on your calendar. We`ll hear more from the chef then.

But, meanwhile, a state prosecutor continues to investigate Governor McDonnell`s reporting of the gifts he has received. And a federal grand jury has convened in his case to investigate, we think, not just the gifts, but whether or not the governor gave anything back in exchange for those gifts. Just take the Rolex as an example.

"The Times Dispatch" in Richmond, Virginia, see that right there? That is the Rolex in question. They say one of their reporters noticed last January that he was wearing this really nice new Rolex and asked him about it.

Quote, "During a January 2012 interview with the `Times Dispatch`, Governor McDonnell was asked about the Rolex watch on his wrist. The governor responded that it was a Christmas gift from his wife."

It was not a Christmas gift from his wife. It was apparently a gift from this man -- well, no, sorry, from the man who owns the company that makes the little pill that`s in the little bottle that Governor McDonnell`s holding there. The man who owns the company that makes a magic tobacco-based anti-inflammatory pill, which the company really wants the governor of Virginia and the state of Virginia to get behind. There`s the governor holding the pill.

According to reporting in "The Washington Post," Governor McDonnell`s wife noticed that the maker of that magic pill was wearing a very nice Rolex, himself. When she noticed his watch, she suggested to him that he should buy a similar one that she could give to her husband. The guy who owns the magic pill company went ahead and bought the Rolex that she was asking for and he had reason to. He had just enough time to say, yes, I will buy you that $6,000 Rolex for the governor before he walked into the meeting that the governor`s wife had just set up for him to pitch his magic tobacco pill to be Virginia`s secretary of health.

Look at this. The first lady`s proposal about the watch occurred moments before the meeting she had arranged for him with a stop state health official to pitch the benefits of the company`s health products. This company is now the subject of a federal securities investigation. But that summer, that was the company that gave Bob McDonnell and/or his wife the Louis Vuitton handbag, the two pairs of lady shoes, the designer dress, the $10,000 suede coat, the lake side vacation home, the Ferrari loan, and the $15,000 wedding dinner, as well as apparently cash payments for some indeterminate amount and also the Rolex engraved. The 71st governor of Virginia was the engraving. Classy, right?

All of those gifts from that one company to the governor and/or his family. And the company in turn got a launch party for their magic tobacco pill held at the governor`s mansion with the governor there helping them launch it. Also, the first lady traveling to their event touting the magic tobacco pill as first lady of Virginia giving her testimony on its behalf. Also a one-on-one meeting between the head of the company and somebody from the Virginia state secretary of health and human resources office. They had him meet with the Rolex guy at the governor`s mansion at the request of the first family. And then the guy from the company delivered the Rolex to the governor. And then, Governor McDonnell told the papers it was a gift from my wife? For Christmas?

Now, with the federal grand jury and the state prosecutor investigating, in the midst of daily revelations of other stuff, other stuff that Bob McDonnell and his family took for free but did not disclose as gifts like the latest, the stretch hummer limo. In the midst of his daily humiliation in the state of Virginia, one Virginia state senator is calling on Governor Bob McDonnell to resign the governorship.

Senator Chapman Petersen says, "The substance of these reports give the strong possession your family was materially and systemically benefited by this person and his company. In return it appears you allowed this person to use the governor`s mansion and the governor`s office for the purpose of giving unique credibility to his company." The letter then says if the governor cannot clear this matter up, he should resign.

Governor McDonnell`s beleaguered spokesman has responded to this letter today with a slap, saying this blatantly political statement from Senator Peterson was not unexpected. The spokesman then went on to say, "The governor has been diligent over the years in making his financial disclosures." Actually, Governor McDonnell still hasn`t even disclosed the watch.

The rules say he has to disclose any gift over 50 bucks. You know? That Rolex was over 6,000 bucks and he still hasn`t disclosed that he got it as a gift and he`s not talking about it and this probably cannot go on like this for very much longer, can it?

Joining us is Senator Chap Petersen of Virginia. He`s a Democrat. He represents central and western Fairfax.

Senator Petersen, thank you very much for being with us tonight.

REP. CHAP PETERSEN (D), VIRGINIA: Good evening, Rachel. Thank you for having me.

MADDOW: You are the first lawmaker in Virginia to call for Governor McDonnell to resign, frankly we`ve been covering this story for a long time and I thought we would have heard these calls earlier. But you`re the first.

I have to ask you if it springs from any kind of bad blood or personal animosity between you and Governor McDonnell.

PETERSEN: No. Exactly the opposite. I actually -- I like the governor. He`s a friend. We played basketball together. We`ve been in bible studies together.

I -- I have great regard for him as a person. And no, there`s no personal animosity. I think my position is as a Virginian, we just can`t tolerate this type of conduct.

And I`m asking the governor to come forward and either explain it and if he can`t explain it, he needs to step aside. There`s no personal animosity. It`s really about the state of Virginia and what`s best.

MADDOW: Is it the overall weight of the allegation, the long list of things he has been -- he has allegedly received in his capacity as governor that bothers you, the overall accumulation of all of these allegations. Or is it something in particular that you`re particularly bothered by?

PETERSEN: You know, Rachel, I have three daughters so when I heard about the $15,000 spent on the wedding reception, that kind of took me aback. There was a lot of joking about it and I guess people thought maybe this was a one-time thing, maybe there`s an explanation. But as the weeks have gone by and the days have gone by, and just one incident after another, one item after another, it`s just been an accumulation, and there`s been no explanation from the governor.

And the burden`s on him to say, what`s going on? And hiding behind "no comment", that`s not working. The people of Virginia deserve better. So, I would say in response to your question, it`s an accumulation.

MADDOW: You know, he has -- he has not been a particularly evasive public servant as governor on a lot of other matters including a lot of other controversies. In his tenure, he has been willing to talk publicly. He does weekly radio shows. He`s taken a lot of questions. He`s not a guy who previously has hidden behind people around him.

The repeated no comments on this, and no explanations on this, I have also found surprising in departure from his previous behavior. But there are these ongoing investigations, a federal investigation and a state investigation. Is there a case to be made that he shouldn`t do anything and maybe he shouldn`t comment at all until those investigations are resolved?

PETERSEN: Rachel, I would say those vases won`t be resolved until the case is tried in front of the jury, if he`s indicted, and I`m not assuming he will be. Frankly, I hope he won`t be.

But he has an obligation to the citizens now to explain what`s happened. I mean, all of these items, all of these stories coming out, all of us as public officials have to come forward and show that we`re honest, that we`re fair.

And when these stories come out and when they`re not denied, when they`re not rebutted, that frankly casts a shadow over all of us in the general assembly and most of us like myself, we`re part timers. I mean, this is not our profession. We do this because we believe in it. And separate and apart from the governor`s legal status, he has an obligation to tell the citizens that he`s making decisions that are in the best interest of the commonwealth and not those that are financially beneficial to himself.

MADDOW: Senator Chap Petersen of Virginia, thank you very much for your time tonight, sir. I appreciate.

PETERSEN: Thank you, Rachel.

MADDOW: This is probably not a typical show you`d come on to talk about politics but I appreciate you being here, sir.

PETERSEN: Thank you.

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