The twelfth day of the McDonnell corruption trial saw lots of fairly short witnesses, with a few basic points:
- The MoBo Realty LLC was losing lots of money every year, and the family couldn’t refinance, couldn’t sell except at a loss, and couldn’t afford to maintain the properties;
- In March, 2013, Maureen McDonnell gave to Donnie Williams (Jonnie’s brother who was doing some maintenance work at the McDonnell home) a box containing dresses and a note. This note is the basis for Count 14, the allegation that this note was an effort to obstruct the investigation that was then under way; it said that the dresses had been “loaned” to Maureen McDonnell, rather than having been bought for her by Jonnie Williams;
- Virginia State Police Agent Charles Hagan testified about his February, 2013, interview with Maureen, saying on direct exam that Maureen had called Jonnie Williams her “long-time friend” but admitting that his notes did not include the phrase “long-time”; saying on direct exam that Maureen had talked about having a “written” contract to repay Jonnie’s loans but admitting that his notes did not include the word “written.” There were other similar instances where Hagan testified about details of Maureen’s interview that he had not written down in his notes. A rational person might ask, “Why don’t you record these interviews?”
The headline on most stories, or at least the anecdote that will get the most play, is going to deal with Jonnie Williams and a VCU doctor meeting Steven Spielberg at the Governor’s Mansion. This has no real legal significance, but is offered to show that Williams had almost unrestrained access to the Governor’s Mansion.
Dr. George Vetrovec, a VCU cardiologist, testified that on October 3, 2011, he was meeting with Jonnie Williams at VCU, trying to interest Vetrovec and VCU in research into Anatabloc. Williams took Vetrovec — seemingly on the spur of the moment — to the Mansion “because Maureen McDonnell made great cookies,” and Williams wanted Vetrovec to have some of Maureen’s cookies. He pulled up his exotic car to the Mansion and parked it on the lawn, and he and Vetrovec walked into a reception honoring Steven Spielberg for having filmed the movie Lincoln in Richmond. Vetrovec never got any cookies, but he did get to meet Spielberg and talk with him briefly. Vetrovec figured that the whole stunt had just been an effort to impress him with Williams’ connections in high places.
It’s an appealing story, and it will get the headlines, but it is hard to see what it proves — other than that Jonnie Williams was desperate to sell the medical schools on the desirability of researching Anatabloc. Which has been pretty obvious for a couple of weeks now.
