Report: Maureen McDonnell Also Asked Donor For SUVs For Her Kids

Jonnie Williams next to Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell, at an event in April 2011.
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Former Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell didn’t always get everything she asked for from the Virginia businessman and political donor Jonnie Williams.

The Washington Post reported this weekend on a couple of instances when Williams felt “a little used and put her off,” according to people familiar with the account Williams gave to federal prosecutors.

According to the Post, after the McDonnell family had spent a vacation at Williams’ lake house, the McDonnells’ sons had driven Williams’ Range Rover home. Maureen McDonnell subsequently asked Williams if the boys could take the vehicle back to the University of Virginia. Williams said no. Not long after that, Maureen McDonnell called Williams with another idea: could he give her money to buy another of her children a used Ford Explorer. Again, Williams said no.

The McDonnells were indicted last week on more than a dozen charges related to the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and loans they accepted from Williams, who previously ran a struggling dietary supplements company called Star Scientific.

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