Richmond, Va. – While testifying for a fourth day on Monday, former Governor Bob McDonnell suddenly became less talkative and even forgetful.
This time around, his attorney wasn’t the one asking the questions. Instead, prosecutors grilled him about the more than $177,000 in loans and gifts he and his wife accepted from former Star Scientific CEO Johnnie Williams.
According to defense attorneys, Maureen accepted many of the loans and gifts and hid them from her husband. But, prosecutors challenged that argument.
“Were you present when your wife held up your shirtsleeve and commented to Mrs. Williams that you didn’t have a nice watch like Mr. Williams?” prosecutors asked.
McDonnell previously testified he didn’t know Williams bought the Rolex watch Maureen gave him for Christmas in 2011. And, he told prosecutors Monday he didn’t remember his wife making that comment.
He also doesn’t recall his wife asking him to pose with the watch for a photo that Williams says McDonnell texted to him.
Prosecutors then showed the court several other photos of McDonnell showing off the watch taken at the same time as the picture in question.
The Rolex is one of many gifts prosecutors say the McDonnells accepted from Williams.
The couple also accepted several loans from him.
The former Governor and First Lady are accused of accepting them as part of a criminal conspiracy.
Prosecutors say the couple helped Williams promote his dietary supplement in exchange.
But, defense teams argue Williams was just a generous friend and donor.
When prosecutors showed McDonnell a picture of him posing with a bottle of Anatabloc, he said he didn’t remember that either.
“I got hundreds of pictures of me with products,” McDonnell explained.
On top of that, prosecutors challenged the argument that the couple was hardly on speaking terms at the time.
McDonnell has testified that he and Maureen were having problems privately and communication between them was limited.
But, prosecutors showed evidence of 18 vacations they took in nearly two years. McDonnell, however, described them as ‘trips’.
He’ll be back on the stand Tuesday for the fifth day.
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