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McDonnell says he'll return remaining gifts from donor

Gov. McDonnell said he’s working with his counsel to return the items he received from Jonnie Williams.

Bob McDonnell

Olympia Meola | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Gov. Bob McDonnell says he intends to return gifts still in his possession from a wealthy donor, his latest move to try to restore trust with Virginians amid a gift scandal plaguing his final months in office.

Having repaid $120,000 in loans, with interest, to Jonnie Williams , CEO of Henrico County-based Star Scientific, McDonnell said he will now give back gifts.

Citing “concerns that have been raised by members of the public, and to do everything I can to restore trust with the people of Virginia,” McDonnell said on Washington’s WTOP radio that he is working with his counsel to return gifts that he has in his possession, including a Rolex watch.

McDonnell said his eldest daughter, Jeanine, has returned a gift she received from Williams in advance of her May wedding. Williams gave that daughter $10,000. Williams also spent $15,000 to cover the catering costs for the June 2011 Executive Mansion wedding reception for another daughter, Cailin.

McDonnell did not specify Tuesday which gifts to him and his family he plans to return, nor did he give a time frame.

“It is my intent to work with my counsel to ensure that all remaining gifts that we have are also returned,” he said.

“This has been a gentleman and his wife who for a while I considered a personal friend and he’d given some gifts to my daughters for their wedding and to my wife — some of them I did not know about at the time,” he said.

McDonnell, in the last lap of his four-year term, spent the first 45 minutes or so of the radio program answering questions about the simmering scandal that has dogged him for months.

He said he tried to report gifts “accurately in accordance with my understanding of the law.”

He maintained that neither Star nor Williams received any special benefit from his administration. A review by McDonnell’s state-appointed attorney of key administration agencies determined that they did not give the company any public money, grants or contracts.

The governor faces state and federal probes relating to his relationship with Williams.

McDonnell said he is considering potential changes to the state’s gift disclosure laws, considered some of the weakest in the nation, but did not sound inclined to call a special session of the legislature to tackle the issue.

The General Assembly meets for its regular session in January, the same month that McDonnell leaves office.

State law requires elected officials and others to disclose any
gift in excess of $50, but does not place the same reporting requirement on gifts to immediate family members.

Last week, the governor’s private legal team announced that McDonnell repaid loans to Williams, and the governor said he was “deeply sorry for the embarrassment certain members of my family and I brought upon my beloved Virginia and her citizens.”

He said Tuesday that one of the loans, to his wife, was properly reported on his economic disclosure statement. The other was a business loan, he said, to a company he has owned with his sister.

“We regularly take loans for that company for operating needs and so under my understanding of the law that did not need to be reported,” he said.

McDonnell paid back $52,278 for what was described as a 2011 loan from Williams to Maureen McDonnell. He also paid $71,837 for two 2012 loans to the business, according to his private legal team.

The reimbursements, according to McDonnell’s private counsel, came from the governor, the family business or his family. McDonnell reiterated that on the radio, saying the money came from personal assets.

McDonnell took issue with the accuracy of some news reports and said, “I look forward to the whole truth coming out at the appropriate time.”

The governor was asked about the $53,000 bill, so far, that taxpayers are footing for his state-appointed private legal counsel related to a criminal case alleging embezzlement by the former mansion chef.

McDonnell noted that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli decided to appoint the lawyer.

Cuccinelli, who is the Republican gubernatorial nominee, accepted $18,000 in gifts from Williams, about $5,000 of which he did not initially disclose.

The campaign of his Democratic rival, Terry McAuliffe, called on Cuccinelli on Tuesday to return gifts from Williams.

“On the heels of the news that Cuccinelli’s conflict of interest has already cost taxpayers more than $50,000 in legal fees, it’s the least Cuccinelli can do to return all of his gifts,” said McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin.

Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring conducted a review of Cuccinelli’s disclosures and determined he did not violate Virginia’s disclosure laws.

Saturday, September 14, 2013