Va. first lady bought stock in Star Scientific

[Tony_FLADEM]

Maureen McDonnell, the first lady of Virginia, twice purchased thousands of shares of stock in Star Scientific, a spokesman for McDonnell’s legal team confirmed Friday night. The stock was bought and held in the same time frame that she and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell were taking steps to promote the dietary supplement company.

Spokesman Rich Galen said the first lady did not inform the governor either time she purchased stock, which Galen said she bought for herself and her children.

McDonnell’s relationship with Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the chief executive of Star Scientific, is now at the center of ongoing federal and state investigations.

The relationship has been the subject of intense public scrutiny for months, but this is the first indication that the governor’s family held a personal financial stake in the success of the struggling supplement company.

A person familiar with the stock purchase said government prosecutors have been investigating the McDonnell family’s ownership of Star Scientific stock to determine whether the governor took any official acts to help the company’s prestige.

Any evidence that the governor acted in his official capacity to indirectly help his own interest in a company could increase legal jeopardy in a potential criminal case. Persons with knowledge of the case have said that Williams is cooperating with investigators.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-first-lady-bought-stock-in-star-scientific/2013/08/16/8757f8fc-06c7-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

[hobbit709]

1. What's that comment about Caesar's Wife?

[Igel]

2. Sexist, mostly. n/t

[KarKar]

3. Game over. McDonnell is distancing himself from his own wife.

He thought he could stick out until November but the Washington Post is pounding him. I'm thinking he will not last another month. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is even taking licks at him and that is unheard of.

[tanyev]

4. What??? They didn't give her stock shares as a gift?