Former Governor’s Corruption Trial Continues

The pub­lic cor­rup­tion trial in Vir­ginia has made head­lines across the US, with sto­ries of expen­sive gifts, a fail­ing mar­riage and a crush. For­mer gov­er­nor, Bob McDon­nell, and his wife, Mau­reen, are charged with accept­ing some $165,000 in gifts and loans from a wealthy busi­ness­man in exchange for pro­mot­ing his company’s products.It’s the first time a Vir­ginia gov­er­nor has faced trial on pub­lic cor­rup­tion charges.

The McDon­nells are charged with accept­ing numer­ous gifts and loans from busi­ness­man Jon­nie Williams. Defense lawyers said Mau­reen McDon­nell devel­oped a “crush” on Williams and reject the prosecution’s claim the McDon­nells used the governor’s office to pro­mote the businessman’s dietary sup­ple­ment company.If con­victed, McDon­nell and his wife face decades in prison.

A juror was dis­missed on day 12 of the trial. U.S. Dis­trict Judge James Spencer gave no expla­na­tion for why, but at the end of the day he lec­tured the jury about not talk­ing to any­one about the case or view­ing any news sto­ries about it.