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McDonnell: I didn't know Williams paid for NYC shopping [Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) :: ](Daily Press (Newport News, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 21--RICHMOND -- Bob McDonnell didn't know Jonnie R. Williams Sr. bought his wife nearly $20,000 worth of clothes and shoes during a now infamous New York shopping spree, he testified this morning. He knew his wife, and her chief of staff at the time, were meeting Williams and that he "was going to show them some New York stores." But McDonnell told jurors he expected to see charges show up later on the couple's credit cards, and that he expected his wife would be relativly frugal, given past conversations he'd had with her about reining in their credit card debt. This is the beginning of the meat of McDonnell's testimony as he tries to keep himself, and his wife, out of jail and free of the bribery charges against them. He testified that he also didn't know Williams and his wife, Celeste, gave Maureen McDonnell a Louis Vuitton wallet when they came to the governor's mansion for a friendly dinner several weeks after the New York trip. He said he didn't find out that Williams wanted to give daughter Cailin $15,000 to cover the cost of her approaching wedding reception until after Maureen McDonnell had told Cailin. He knew Williams was wealthy, having borrowed his private jet repeatedly during political campaigns, and since Williams had offered him a drink of $5,000-a-bottle cognac in New York. It was an incredibly generous gift, McDonnell testified, but he figured "that was OK." So began the parade of serious cash infusions Williams gave the family. McDonnell still must explain to jurors why he and his wife accepted three loans totalling $120,000, along with various gifts, all of which Williams says he gave to get access to the governor's office and support for his company's dietary supplement, Anatabloc. The former governor's testimony late this morning included a number of new revelations. He said he's living now with his pastor, and that his marriage is "basically on hold" while he focuses on this trial. He said he doesn't believe his wife ever had a physical relationship with Williams, but likely had an emotional attachment. Among other things, they bonded over her love of vitamins and similar products called nutraceuticals, such as Anatabloc, and she was eager to help him promote the product, McDonnell said. The governor said his own actions for Anatabloc and Williams' company, Star Scientific, were nothing more than he would do for any other Virginia company. RICHMOND -- Bob McDonnell essentially put his marriage on hold while he was in the governor's office, finding himself unable to deal with the first lady's demands as the private side of her office descended into chaos, the former governor testified this morning. The time pressures of running for governor, then being governor, along with extra duties McDonnell took on as the head of the Republican Governors Associations and one of Mitt Romney's early presidential supporters, took precedent over his personal life in late 2011 and early 2012, he testified. Most of the conversations he had with his wife at this time were simply about logistics, he said. Sometimes he'd work late just to avoid hearing her latest complaints about mansion staffers. She had them almost every night, and it was usually small stuff. "I remember telling Maureen, 'Maureen, I can't deal with this,'" McDonnell testified. "I got to the point I just couldn't come home and listen to that." Things boiled over in early 2012, when the mansion staff threatened to quit en masse. A consultant brought in to help suggested counseling, but the governor had been down that road before with his wife, he said. "Her reaction was, 'We're not going to be able to keep that private.'" This is all part of the McDonnell defense against a 14-count federal indictment that alleges he and his wife conspired to accept bribes from Jonnie R. Williams Sr., a Virginia businessman, in exchange for helping him promote Anatabloc, a dietery supplement. Maureen McDonnell had long believed in vitamins and other supplements called nutraceuticals, according to repeated testimony in this trial, including testimony this morning from the former governor. Maureen McDonnell had a side business selling these products for some 30 years, and the governor told her she had to set it mostly aside as he became governor. She had pitched products, and the direct marketing strategy that went with them, to campaign donors and it just didn't look good, he said. She resented this, and a number of other ways her life changed as the McDonnells became more and more of a public family. After her parents died, in 2009 and 2010, the last McDonnell children left home for college and the governor's free time dwindled, things got worse, Bob McDonnell said. The defense maintains that the McDonnells' communication, and marriage, broke down so completely that a conspiracy was impossible. But evidence has shown they both took money and gifts from Williams, and that he was allowed to hand pick attendees to a pair of mansion events. Maureen McDonnell frequently travelled with him to promote Anatabloc, and the governor set up a handful of meetings with state staffers. He testified yesterday that all of this was routine -- the sort of thing he'd do for any Virginia business. Testimony from former administration officials backs that up, but a number of former McDonnell aides have also said they were concerned about just how close Williams seemed to be to the first family. So far the governor has talked today about difficulties in his marriage, but not much about Williams or the accusations in this case. There haven't been any particularly new revelations, just his version of stories already in evidence from former mansion staffers and others who know the couple. This is a breaking news story. Come back later for further updates. ___ (c)2014 the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) Visit the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) at www.dailypress.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |