Day 24 of the corruption trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, began with the prosecution’s rebuttal witness, FBI Special Agent Kathryn Weber.
Since the former first lady was not a public official under the law, prosecutors must prove that the former first couple engaged in a conspiracy to win convictions on some charges.
After days of testimony by McDonnell and other witnesses that the couple did not communicate well, that was a huge challenge.
Weber compared 22 relevant months of schedules and said the couple spent about 90 percent of those nights together. But she conceded that “together” meant an overnight stay under the same roof. The defense pointed out numerous dates when McDonnell flew in from out-of-state and arrived home late at night.
Executive Mansion logs showed that Jonnie Williams visited Maureen twice when he was gone. Judge James Spencer then dismissed the jurors so that he could finalize jury instructions. Legal analyst Todd Stone said those include standards of evidence.
“The government has to prove each and every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. And all the jurors have to unanimously agree in order for there to be a finding of guilt.”
With his children embracing him for support, McDonnell briefly left the courthouse. In response to reporters, he said he wished he had done many things differently in his 60 years of life.
“I’m a human being, and like every one of you, we all do things we wish we did a little differently. It’s just the way life is.”
He admitted his fallibility—then was asked if he forgave Jonnie Williams. The former governor replied, “Sure.”
