Emails: McDonnell set up Cabinet meeting for donor Williams 

RICHMOND — Gov. Bob McDonnell helped set up a meeting in 2010 in which the chief executive of troubled nutritional supplements maker Star Scientific Inc. — a major campaign donor and personal benefactor to the governor’s family — pitched the benefits of his company’s product to Virginia’s secretary of health and human resources, government emails reveal.

In emails with McDonnell’s former scheduler and Health Secretary Bill Hazel’s top aide, Jonnie Williams Sr.’s executive assistant at Star Scientific wrote that “The Governor told Jonnie he needs to speak to Dr. Hazel” regarding the product.

Federal authorities are investigating whether McDonnell used the influence of his office to promote Star Scientific’s anti-inflammatory supplement, Anatabloc, for Williams and his company. They contributed more than $100,000 to McDonnell’s political organizations and gave the governor’s family personal gifts worth thousands of dollars.

During the hourlong meeting on Nov. 4, 2010, Williams touted Anatabloc as a way to reduce Virginians’ health care costs, benefit the state’s tobacco industry and possibly combat Alzheimer’s disease, Hazel said in an Associated Press interview Thursday.

Hazel, a respected orthopedic surgeon, said he was skeptical before meeting with Williams about the product, which does not have Food and Drug Administration approval, and even more skeptical after listening to some of Williams’ claims.

Hazel said McDonnell never pressured him to give Williams an audience, and that it’s not uncommon for McDonnell to recommend that individuals or organizations with a wide range of interests meet and discuss them with specific members of his Cabinet.

“What was different about Jonnie is he’s a personal friend, not just some campaign donor,” Hazel said. “Do you give him more time and attention because of that? I’m not sure that’s true, but you’re aware of it.”

Williams got nothing from the November 2010 meeting in the same Capitol Square building as the governor’s office, Hazel said.

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