John McCain is seen in the picture above boarding the boat of Vatican con-man Raffaello Follieri on August 29, 2006 in Montenegro. Ahead of McCain is his co-campaign manager Rick Davis. On the left side of Follieri is Anne Hathaway. Although some would like this photo to somehow make McCain look bad, there’s no scandal here whatsoever. No one knew Follieri was a con-man until he was arrest in June 2008.

At the time he met McCain, Follieri was adept at collecting friends in powerful places and using those connections to attract investments in projects which later turned out to be bogus. His ties to Bill Clinton and his entourage have been well-documented; the charismatic Follieri, whom Vanity Fair has likened to an ambitious nineteenth-century protagonist from a Balzac novel, ingratiated himself to President Clinton and aides by posing as a mega-donor to the Clinton Global Initiative. He also formed an investment partnership with California business mogul and Clinton donor Ron Burkle to develop surplus real estate properties owned by the Catholic Church, which Follieri claimed to represent. Burkle later sued Follieri for $1.3 million in misappropriated funds.

Both Follieri and McCain have said their meeting in 2006 was "entirely social and nothing came of it." Clinton on the other hand was much more involved with Follieri.

No one knew Follieri was a con-man until he was busted, so there’s no juicy story, and no scandal.

Follieri, who posed as Vatican chief financial officer in order to win friends and investments, pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Manhattan district court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. As part of the plea, Follieri admitted to misappropriating at least $2.4 million of investor money and redirecting it to foreign personal bank accounts that were disguised as business accounts.