Day four of the corruption trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, picked up where it left off the previous day—with the prosecution's star witness, Jonnie Williams.
The former Star Scientific CEO detailed the gifts and loans he provided to the former first family—and the point where he knew he believed he was crossing ethical and legal lines.
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"The McDonnells were not my personal friends."
That's a quote by Williams, and he made similar statements in response to prosecutors. Williams detailed the trips in which Maureen McDonnell accompanied him to promote the company's product, "Anatabloc."
A video was played in which Maureen praises the product's potential if it could be studied and endorsed by doctors. In the video, she says Williams and her husband are good friends. Williams says at that point he had only met her husband 6 times, but he did not correct her because he needed the first family to promote his business and help him gain access to influential people.
He says that's why he provided Maureen with a shopping spree, paid for trips and getaways for the family, and provided loans. He says he drew the line at buying their daughter a car. Later, he considered allowing the governor to buy $50,000 of Star Scientific stock options at 10-cents on the dollar but decided against it because Williams did not want it to be disclosed.
Williams also admitted to blatantly lying on a disclosure form to hide his business relationship with the McDonnells.
