Governor McDonnell has issued a public apology and says he has repaid in full more than $120,000 in loans that he and his family received from wealthy donor Jonnie Williams. McDonnell released a statement today saying he is deeply sorry for the embarrassment he and some family members have brought upon Virginia. The repayments include more than $50,000 for a loan made to the governor’s wife Maureen and more than $70,000 for two other loans made to a real estate business owned jointly by McDonnell and his sister. Meantime, a Virginia Tech political analyst says the apology may help the governor repair his reputation, but only up to a point. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
(Continue reading for the Governor McDonnell’s full statement)
Statement of Governor Robert McDonnell
Governor McDonnell announced today that loans made to his wife and small family business by Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams have been repaid in full. “Being Governor of Virginia is the highest honor of my 37 years in public service. I am deeply sorry for the embarrassment certain members of my family and I brought upon my beloved Virginia and her citizens. I want you to know that I broke no laws and that I am committed to regaining your sacred trust and confidence. I hope today’s action is another step toward that end. Virginia has never been stronger and I plan to focus on creating even more jobs and facilitating greater opportunity during the last fivemonths of my term as your Governor. Our work together on education, transportation, pension reform, voting rights, and economic expansion has produced great results for Virginia,” said Governor McDonnell.
The repayments include $52,278.17 for a loan made to Mrs. McDonnell in 2011 and $71,837.00 for two additional loans made to the small real estate business owned jointly by the Governor and his sister in 2012. The payments include both principal and interest.
All monies used for repayment have come from the Governor, the family business itself, or his family.
With this announcement today, Governor McDonnell has apologized; he has paid back the loans and, coupled with the Troy report that was released last Friday, it has been demonstrated that neither Star Scientific nor Jonnie Williams received any benefit.
