Virginia's Ex-First Lady Pitched Pills to Ann Romney: Testimony

Former Bob McDonnell aide: She said it could cure MS
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 5, 2014 10:37 AM CDT
Virginia's Ex-First Lady Pitched Pills to Ann Romney: Testimony
Ann Romney gives her keynote speech on the Southern Utah University Campus in Cedar City, Utah on Friday, May 2, 2014.   (AP Photo/The Spectrum, Asher Swan)

As Virginia's former first couple faces trial for alleged graft, a former aide to ex-Gov. Bob McDonnell is offering some damning testimony. McDonnell's wife tried to pitch a nutritional supplement to Mitt Romney, the aide testified, and when that fell through, she pitched it to Ann Romney instead. The supplement, Anatabloc, is produced by Star Scientific—which was then headed by Jonnie Williams, who allegedly provided the couple with gifts while they allegedly used their power for his benefit.

Maureen McDonnell and Williams arrived at a press conference aiming to pitch Anatabloc to Mitt Romney, whom Bob had recently endorsed, in 2012, ex-aide Phil Cox said, per the Washington Post. After Cox halted them, he testified, Maureen spoke to Ann Romney about the supplement on a Romney campaign bus. Ann Romney has multiple sclerosis, and Maureen told her Anatabloc could "potentially cure" it, Cox said. (In other words, as Wonkette sees it, Maureen McDonnell "offered to cure Ann Romney's MS with this one weird trick.") "I was horrified," Cox said. “I thought it was a train wreck." Meanwhile, a former McDonnell scheduler has testified that the first couple once went to a last-minute event with Williams even though the General Assembly was in session, the AP reports. (More Ann Romney stories.)

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