Former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell and his wife were indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury and charged with accepting bribes in the form of money and gifts from the chief executive of a dietary supplements maker. An indictment with 14 counts was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against McDonnell, who is only 10 days out of office, and his wife, Maureen. They accepted gifts from the head of supplements-maker Star Scientific Inc including cash, golf fees and clothing and in exchange arranged for company executives to meet government officials who could help their business, the indictment alleges. “We did not violate the law, and I will use every available resource and advocate I have for as long as it takes to fight these false allegations,” Robert McDonnell said in his statement.

By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks edged higher on Tuesday, putting the S&P on pace to snap a two-session decline, as gains in the materials sector were offset by declines in a trio of Dow components. The S&P materials index gained 0.9 percent as the best performing of the 10 major S&P indexes, led by a 4.9 percent gain in Dow Chemical to $45.18. “Dow Chemical is kind of behind sort of a broader market rise with the idea there is still value, or at least one respected hedge fund thinks there is still some value in a specific stock,” said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey. Also adding support to the materials sector was Alcoa Inc , which advanced 4.8 percent to $11.90 after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to an “overweight” from a neutral” rating and boosted its price target to $15 from $9 per share.