McDonnell's wife erratic, ex-staff member testifies

RICHMOND, Va. -- Former Gov. Bob McDonnell struggled to rein in his wife's erratic behavior, causing turmoil throughout the executive staff and nearly prompting a mass resignation among workers in the governor's mansion, a defense witness testified Monday.

After prosecutors presented nearly three weeks of testimony in the public corruption trial of McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, lawyers for Bob McDonnell opened their defense with even more testimony that portrayed Maureen McDonnell in a poor light, saying she lashed out when she didn't get her way.

Prosecutors say the McDonnells accepted more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from former Star Scientific Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jonnie Williams in exchange for promoting his company's dietary supplements. The couple are charged in a 14-count indictment.

The tight relationship between Maureen McDonnell and Williams has been a key issue at trial, with the former governor's lawyers suggesting that she acted largely on her own to promote Williams' tobacco-based nutritional supplement, Anatabloc.

Janet Kelly, who served as secretary of the commonwealth under McDonnell, said she was personally fond of Maureen McDonnell and was reluctant to bash her any further.

"I don't want to just pile on," she said, fighting back tears.

But Kelly said she had known about Maureen McDonnell's "challenging behavior" for years and that she took the job as secretary of the commonwealth only after receiving assurances she wouldn't have to deal with her.

Kelly eventually agreed to have contact with her, she testified, when she learned that Maureen McDonnell was yelling at her husband nightly about the sorts of issues that Kelly had been ducking.

Kelly and other staff members intervened to thwart a mass resignation of the mansion staff members, in which they wrote a joint letter stating that "to be treated like naughty children any time something doesn't suit you is completely unacceptable."

She said the letter would be counterproductive because Maureen McDonnell was "pathologically incapable of accepting any responsibility."

And Kelly said Maureen McDonnell reacted badly when her husband told her at the outset of the administration that she would have to suspend her business selling vitamins and other supplements.

On the other hand, Kelly described the former governor as "extraordinarily gracious" and even-tempered.

"There was never a time he made me feel uncomfortable. Never a time I questioned his motives," she said.

Kelly testified that while the relationship between the McDonnells appeared to be strained, she observed Maureen McDonnell and Williams acting "kind of flirty" on a plane trip in 2012.

Defense attorneys have said the marriage was on the rocks and that Maureen McDonnell had developed a crush on Williams, suggesting that the McDonnells could not have engaged in a criminal conspiracy because they were barely speaking.

Kelly, who played a key role in handing out jobs and appointments, testified that she was never asked to give any appointments or jobs to Williams or executives from his company. McDonnell wanted only the "best and the brightest" to serve in his administration, regardless of their political connections, she said.

Bob McDonnell's lawyer, Henry Asbill, sought to dispel the notion that McDonnell's influence could be bought, asking Kelly what the former governor's philosophy was for dealing with donors.

"If you can't take someone's money and vote against their bill the next day, you shouldn't be in politics," Kelly said.

Her testimony painted a different picture than that of another Cabinet secretary, Bill Hazel. Testifying for prosecutors, he said that as health secretary he met with Williams only because Bob McDonnell asked him to. Hazel thought little of Williams or his supplement and testified that he and his staff members derisively referred to Williams as the "Tic-Tac man" for the samples he doled out.

Before testimony began, Judge James Spencer told lawyers that a third juror had been excused from the case, this one to tend to a family emergency. That leaves only one alternate.

Bob McDonnell is expected to testify in his defense at some point in the trial.

A Section on 08/19/2014

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