RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- With months to go until he steps down from office, Governor Bob McDonnell is once again facing criticism over his financial disclosure forms.
The Washington Post reports that First Lady Maureen McDonnell received $36,000 from the philanthropic group associated with The United Company, one of Virginia's largest coal businesses.
The controversy is not that the first lady received the money -- that is legal under Virginia law -- the controversy is that McDonnell may have improperly disclosed it.
According to the Post report, McDonnell listed his wife as a trustee of the charity group and not a paid employee.
However charity officials said the first lady was never a trustee but a paid consultant.
When an elected official's wife is a trustee, their salary does not need to be disclosed.
However when he or she is a paid employee any salary over $10,000 must be reported to the public.
"Right now we have a political drip torture going on for Governor McDonnell," CBS 6 Political Analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth said.
Holsworth said this will put more emphasis on a report due out by Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Herring.
Herring was asked by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to investigate McDonnell's financial history to see if anything done is illegal.
"It's important to note that we have not heard from the Governor about this, we have only heard one side of the story," Holsworth said.
Governor McDonnell's office declined to comment on the matter. United Coal did not immediately return CBS 6's phone calls.
