The Virginia businessman at the center of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and his wife’s federal corruption case said in court Thursday that he “knew it was wrong” to purchase a Rolex watch for the ex-governor.
“I thought it was wrong. It was a bad idea to give him that,” former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams said after jurors passed around the $6,000-$7,000 watch, according to The Washington Post.
McDonnell reportedly received the watch, a gift he never disclosed in personal filings, just two weeks after a 2011 meeting between a top state health official and Williams. Williams reportedly pushed his dietary supplement company’s product in that meeting, which was in turn allegedly arranged by McDonnell’s wife Maureen.
Williams said in his testimony that Maureen McDonnell asked him to buy the Rolex for the governor after seeing one on his own wrist and after he had already met with the state health official.
“I said, ‘Do you want me to get one of these watches for the governor?’” he said, as quoted by the Post. “She said, ‘Yes, that would be nice.’”
Pressed about the watch by U.S. Attorney Michael Dry, Williams reiterated that the purchase was a “bad idea.”
“I shouldn’t have had to buy things like that to get the help I needed,” he said, as quoted by the Post. “I took a business risk. It was a bad business decision. I knew it was wrong.”
Williams has not testified so far that the ex-governor knew about the origins of the gifts at the center of the corruption case, according to the Post. Earlier this week, the defense had suggested that Maureen McDonnell developed a “crush” on Williams during the time that the couple received gifts from him in exchange for promoting Star Scientific because her marriage to the ex-governor had “broken down.”
So it took ole’ Johnnie W. a lifetime to learn the lessons the poors, Democrats and folks of color get to learn by puberty … schaden really IS freude
“McDonnell Donor ‘Knew It Was Wrong’ To Buy Ex-Guv A Rolex Watch”
s/b “McDonnell Donor ‘Knew It Was Wrong’ To Buy Then-Guv A Rolex Watch”
“Ex-Guv” denotes that McDonnell wasn’t governor at the time the grift occurred.
The newest movie title:
RETURN OF THE ROLEX
Hey Bob, what time is it?!
Puberty? I learned something like this was bribery at my momma’s knee.
“I shouldn’t have had to buy things like that (Rolex watch) to get the help I needed,” Williams said, as quoted by the Post. "
Like he HAD to --no choice between doing things he knew were wrong and making a living without sucking off the government teat. Government isn’t about boosting individual businesses. Oh wait…