Witness: Maureen McDonnell Said To Be ‘Hoarding’ Lavish Gifts

Former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell, center, is flanked by daughters Rachel McDonnell, left, and Cailin Young, right, as they arrive at the federal courthouse in Richmond, Va,, Monday, July 28, 2014, on the ... Former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell, center, is flanked by daughters Rachel McDonnell, left, and Cailin Young, right, as they arrive at the federal courthouse in Richmond, Va,, Monday, July 28, 2014, on the first day of jury selection in the corruption trial of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife in Richmond, Va. Bob and Maureen McDonnell are charged in a 14-count indictment with accepting more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from the CEO of a dietary supplements company in exchange for helping promote his products. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney) MORE LESS
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A former staffer for Virginia ex-Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said Friday that he’d heard first lady Maureen McDonnell was “hoarding” gifts in the Executive Mansion.

In response to questioning from the defense, Matthew A. Conrad, who served as the governor’s deputy chief of staff, testified “I’d heard that there were piles of gifts and things being put in closets that needed to be accounted for.”

The Washington Post reported that Conrad was responding to a question about a 2012 email discussion among staffers about gifts for the couple. They were concerned that Maureen McDonnell received some gifts and some gifts were sent to the Executive Mansion that were actually intended for the governor. Conrad confirmed in his testimony that staffers wanted to ensure that such gifts were disclosed.

At issue in the federal corruption case embroiling the McDonnells is roughly $150,000 in gifts, vacations and loans from Jonnie Williams, a Virginia businessman who was formerly the CEO of a struggling diet supplement company, Star Scientific. Prosecutors are trying to prove that the McDonnells used the governor’s office to support Williams’ company over the years in exchange for those gifts.

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  1. why are you guys adding to the story that this is all the missus fault and the guv was the innocent bystander? wth?

  2. Why are people surprised?

    This woman is a Teabagger. Kooky behavior and Teabaggery are the beer and pizza of politics.

  3. Of course it is the wife’s fault - Bob has a career he is thinking about…

    /snark

  4. Is this real life? She crazier than a motherfucker. Both of them.

    If this was a movie, I would say its totally unrealistic, yet here we are. And look at the ex-Gov; he’s straight out of central casting for a D-list movie. This shit needs to be made into a Lifetime movie – especially because Lifetime movies don’t end well.

  5. Looking at the linked Washington Post article, and other local sources, this isn’t going to end well in real life either.

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