Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

Donor Jonnie Williams, Star Scientific are cooperating in probe of Gov. Robert McDonnell
August 3, 2013
A prominent political donor and his dietary supplement company have been cooperating for several months with federal prosecutors in a fast-moving public corruption investigation of Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, according to three people familiar with the probe.
Jonnie R. Williams Sr., chief executive of Star Scientific, has turned over personal financial records and sat for interviews in which he provided firsthand accounts of luxury gifts [ http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-06-25/local/40186304_1_williams-sr-rolex-watch-governor ] and more than $120,000 [ http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-07-09/local/40470836_1_williams-sr-donor-payments ] given to McDonnell (R) and his family members since 2011, the people said.
Star has given prosecutors access to corporate records and offered information from other company officials. The three spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is in a sensitive stage.
The cooperation is an ominous sign for McDonnell, suggesting that federal prosecutors are focused on trying to build a potential criminal case against him.
McDonnell has not been charged, and prosecutors ultimately must determine whether they have the evidence to proceed against him.
But Williams is a critical witness who can offer investigators insight into the key issue for such a case: whether the governor and first lady agreed to take official actions that could help Williams’s company in exchange for his gifts.
[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donor-jonnie-williams-star-scientific-are-cooperating-in-probe-of-gov-robert-mcdonnell/2013/08/03/64547572-fb7f-11e2-8752-b41d7ed1f685_story.html [with comments -- from the first few showing:

"So governor, how does it feel to be subjected to an involuntary probe."

"They should give his wife a TVP in order to see if she's hiding another Rolex..."]