RICHMOND 
 
 Foreshadowing a line of defense worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy, lawyers for former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, told a federal jury Tuesday that the McDonnells couldn’t have conspired to corrupt the governor’s office because their marriage was falling apart. 
 
 While putting on a public face of marital bliss, behind the scenes, Virginia’s first couple were barely on speaking terms for much of McDonnell’s governorship, their lawyers said in opening arguments of a corruption trial that could land the pair in prison for life. 
 
 Bob McDonnell’s penchant for putting in 14- to 16-hour days on the job took a toll on his family – especially his wife, John Brownlee, one of the ex-governor’s attorneys, told the jury. 
 
 “Something had to give, and it was his marriage,” Brownlee said. Eventually, he said, communication between the two almost entirely broke down. 
 
 At one point, he said, “she said she hated him” – there was not enough money, he didn’t spend enough time at home, and there was nothing left for her. 
 
 “It created a rift so wide that an outsider – in this case, a man – could invade and poison their life,” Brownlee said. 
 
 That man, he told the jury, was Jonnie Williams. 
 
 The former CEO of a diet supplement company called Star Scientific, Williams is expected to be the prosecution’s star witness, testifying that he showered the McDonnells with more than $160,000 in lavish gifts, loans and other favors in exchange for the first couple’s help in promoting his products. 
 
 He has been granted immunity from prosecution for his testimony. 
 
 Maureen McDonnell had a difficult time adjusting to her life as first lady, William Burck, one of her attorneys, told the jury. Deeply uncomfortable, stressed and overwhelmed, she often lost her temper with her husband and staff, he said. 
 
 Her isolation, anger and anxiety “made it easier for Jonnie Williams to swoop in,” Burck said. 
 
 “You will hear evidence that she had a crush on him,” he said. “Unlike other men in her life, he paid attention to her.” 
 
 In the words of one witness, Williams was Maureen McDonnell’s “favorite playmate,” Burck said. “It was a relationship that some people would consider inappropriate.” 
 
 The two exchanged some 1,200 phone calls and text messages, he said, and Maureen McDonnell hid many of Williams’ favors from her husband. 
 
 Prosecutors would like the jury to believe that the McDonnells were “partners in crime – Bonnie and Clyde,” Burck said. “But their theory cannot be reconciled with the facts.” 
 
 Maureen McDonnell was not a public official, Burck reminded the jury. 
 
 “She is accused of corruption only because of who she is married to,” he said. “Bob McDonnell is the government’s ultimate target in this case. Maureen McDonnell is sitting here as the collateral damage.” 
 
 A survivor of a breast cancer scare at 19, Maureen McDonnell had a 30-year passion for nutritional supplements such as Anatabloc, the tobacco extract that Williams was peddling for its health benefits, Burck said. 
 
 “She believed in the product,” he said. “She was a true believer who drank the Kool-Aid.” 
 
 Williams duped her by exploiting her vulnerability, Burck said, and duped federal prosecutors in much the same way by telling them what they wanted to hear. 
 
 By agreeing to testify in exchange for immunity, Burck suggested, Williams avoided going to prison for a possible $10 million stock fraud. 
 
 “He always thought of himself as a big fish,” Burck said, “but he knew that Bob McDonnell was a bigger fish.” 
 
 Williams’ dealings with the McDonnells amounted to “just a business relationship and nothing more,” Jessica Aber, one of the prosecutors, told the jury in her opening statement. 
 
 Williams was a “vitamin salesman” trying to market his product, Aber said, and he needed scientific studies to get it approved for sale as a prescription drug. 
 
 The McDonnells accommodated him, all the while “lining their pockets with secret cash,” she said. “Mr. and Mrs. McDonnell knew what he wanted, and they gave it to him.” 
 
 Bob McDonnell enjoyed a six-figure salary, a mansion, a chef, a butler and a security detail all at taxpayer expense, Aber said, and he had “a duty not to sell the power and influence of his office to the highest bidder.” 
 
 The McDonnells were financially strapped because of losses in real estate investments, and Williams came to their rescue, Aber said. Among the favors he bestowed on the first couple were $120,000 in loans, trips on his private jet, a vacation stay at his luxurious home on Smith Mountain Lake, the use of his Ferrari sports car, $20,000 worth of designer clothes for Maureen McDonnell, and a $15,000 check to cover the catering costs for the wedding reception of the McDonnells’ daughter Cailin. 
 
 In return, Aber said, the McDonnells hosted an Anatabloc product launch in the governor’s mansion, and the governor used his influence with officials in his administration in an unsuccessful effort to instigate the clinical trials Williams coveted. 
 
 Moreover, Aber said, the McDonnells went to great lengths to conceal the extent of their relationship with Williams, including falsifying bank loan documents to hide the loans he provided them. 
 
 In addition, Aber said, Bob McDonnell failed to disclose those loans and many of Williams’ gifts on the annual financial disclosure statements he was required to file under state law. And Maureen McDonnell, who had bought thousands of dollars worth of Star stock, unloaded it just before the filing deadline so it wouldn’t have to be disclosed. 
 
 Brownlee, the ex-governor’s attorney, countered that McDonnell’s disclosure reports were “all perfectly legal under Virginia law.” 
 
 Williams never received state contracts, loans, board positions, special legislation or money in the state budget, Brownlee said. 
 
 The governor only “set up a couple of meetings” and “said nice things” about Williams’ products, Brownlee said. 
 
 “That’s who he was as governor – he was ‘Bob’s for Jobs,’ ” he said, quoting McDonnell’s campaign slogan. “Bob McDonnell eats Virginia ham, he drinks Virginia wine, and, if the man smoked, my guess is, he would smoke Virginia cigarettes. 
 
 “Bob never asked a single person in Virginia government to do a thing for Jonnie Williams except hear him out. There was no under-the-table deal.” 
 
 Federal investigators combed through McDonnell’s emails, forced his children to testify before a grand jury, subpoenaed his accountant, interviewed his neighbors and even talked to 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, for whom McDonnell was once considered a vice presidential prospect, Brownlee said. 
 
 The investigators were “hoping to find someone to say something bad about Bob McDonnell,” he said. “And you know what? They came up empty.” 
 
 “The government’s case depends almost entirely on the word of a dishonest man.” 
 
 Aber, the prosecutor, told the jury that proof of a conspiracy does not require that Williams received state money or that he made an explicit agreement with the McDonnells. 
 
 “The defendants are way too sophisticated for that,” she said. 
 
 Among the witnesses on the opening day of testimony was Cailin McDonnell Young, the governor’s daughter whose wedding reception was paid for by Williams. 
 
 Young said she was shocked and flattered by Williams’ gift, which her mother explained by telling her that “Mr. Williams was so impressed with me” after meeting her in a brief encounter at the governor’s mansion. 
 
 When her father found out about the gift later, after federal investigators questioned Maureen McDonnell about it, “he was very upset that she had taken that check,” Young testified. 
 
 When prosecutors showed several photos from Young’s wedding on the courtroom video screens, Young began sobbing, prompting Judge James Spencer to call a recess. 
 
 On cross-examination, Young said that, during Bob McDonnell’s tenure as governor and his previous service as attorney general, “I hardly ever saw my father.” 
 
 “Anytime I wanted to see my dad, I had to go through a scheduler,” she said. 
 
 Asked how it feels to have her wedding become part of a political corruption trial, Young replied: “It’s extremely painful. 
 
 “Our wedding now has this black cloud over it. We can’t go back and look at it with a happy memory.” 
 
 Bill Sizemore, 757-618-8855, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com ||||| Ferraris, Rolexes And A Shopping Spree: Inside The Extravagant Life Of Bob McDonnell And His Wife 
 
 Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, liked to live large. 
 
 The couple was indicted in a federal court on Tuesday on federal corruption charges for allegedly illegally accepting dozens of expensive gifts and donations from a wealthy friend. The indictment alleges that the McDonnells used the governor's position to try to help Jonnie Williams, the CEO of dietary supplement company Star Scientific, in exchange for lavish gifts and donations. The former governor, who left office earlier this month, maintains he did nothing illegal in his interactions with Williams. 
 
 Many of the indictment's most shocking details focus on the activities of former Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell, who had Williams take her on a nearly $20,000 shopping spree and even asked him to purchase a Rolex watch for her husband. 
 
 Here are five of the most eye-popping details from the 43-page indictment: 
 
 The indictment says "JW" (also known as Jonnie Williams) offered to buy Maureen McDonnell an Oscar de la Renta dress for her husband's inauguration. After one of Bob McDonnell's senior staffers objected, Mrs. McDonnell sent the following e-mail to the aide complaining about her family's financial woes: 
 
 "I need to talk to you about Inaugural clothing budget. I need answers and Bob is screaming about the thousands I'm charging up in credit card debt. We are broke, have an unconscionable amount in credit card debt already, and this Inaugural is killing us!! I need answers and I need help, and I need to get this done." 
 
 The indictment says Maureen McDonnell told Williams she could not accept the dress, but she would take him up on a "rain check." Over a year later, Williams took Maureen McDonnell on a New York City shopping spree where he "spent approximately $10,999 at Oscar de la Renta, approximately $5,685 at Louis Vuitton, and approximately $2,604 at Bergdorf Goodman," according to the indictment. The night of the dinner, Williams was seated next to Gov. McDonnell at a dinner in New York. 
 
 In late July 2011, the McDonnell family spent time at Jonnie Williams' vacation home on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Before the trip, Maureen McDonnell called Williams "to ask whether JW's Ferrari would be at the house" for her husband to drive, the indictment reads. Williams had a Star Scientific employee drive the Ferrarri from Richmond to Smith Mountain Lake. 
 
 Days later, "MAUREEN MCDONNELL sent an email to JW that contained no text but had an attached picture of ROBERT MCDONNELL driving JW's Ferrari," the indictment says. 
 
 In August of 2011, Maureen McDonnell asked Williams to purchase a Rolex watch, bearing the engraving '71 st Governor of Virginia' on the back, for her husband. 
 
 "MAUREEN MCDONNELL told JW that she wanted JW to buy a Rolex for ROBERT MCDONNELL. JW subsequently bought a Rolex for ROBERT MCDONNELL," the indictment reads. 
 
 Maureen McDonnell later gave the watch to her husband as a Christmas gift. 
 
 In May 2011, Maureen McDonnell asked Williams for a $50,000 loan while also telling him that she could help his company. She also informed him that the couple needed additional money to pay for the catering at their daughter's wedding. 
 
 "MAUREEN MCDONNELL informed JW that she and ROBERT MCDONNELL were having severe financial difficulties. MAUREEN MCDONNELL asked JW for a $50,000 loan. MAUREEN MCDONNELL also told JW that she could help Star Scientific but that she needed JW's financial assistance," the indictment says. 
 
 Later that month, Williams wrote the couple a check for a $50,000 loan and a $15,000 check labeled as a "wedding gift." When Maureen McDonnell deposited the $50,000 check in her personal bank account, the prior account balance was $4,798. 
 
 If convicted, the couple will have to turn over the following items to the federal government, according to the indictment: 
 
 The sum of not less than $140,805.46; 
 
 Black Rebecca Minkoff shoes; 
 
 Black Louis Vuitton shoes; 
 
 White Louis Vuitton shoes; 
 
 Cream Louis Vuitton purse; 
 
 Cream Louis Vuitton wallet; 
 
 Silver Rolex Watch engraved with "71s1 Governor of Virginia"; 
 
 Yellow Peter Som dress; 
 
 Blue Armani jacket and two matching dresses; 
 
 Two Gold Oscar de la Renta dresses; 
 
 Black Louis Vuitton rain coat; 
 
 Gold Oscar de le Renta sweater; 
 
 One pair of Amelia Rose earrings; 
 
 One Gear sweatshirt; 
 
 Two pairs of Foot Joy golf shoes; 
 
 One button-down Ralph Lauren shirt; 
 
 One white Peter Millar golf shirt; 
 
 One baby blue striped Peter Millar golf shirt; 
 
 One royal blue Peter Millar golf shirt; 
 
 One aqua Fairway Greene Tech golf shirt; 
 
 One white striped Ralph Lauren golf shirt; 
 
 One Ping University of Virginia golf bag; 
 
 One Ping Kinloch golf bag; 
 
 One Sun Mountain Notre Dame golf bag; 
 
 Two sets of golf clubs; 
 
 One Heather Mackenzie water color and frame; 
 
 Two iPhones; and 
 
 30 boxes of Anatabloc® ||||| If the prosecutors' case in United States v. Robert F. McDonnell and Maureen G. McDonnell is correct, the corrupt acts of the 71st governor of Virginia and his wife had their beginning even before Bob McDonnell took the oath of office. Virginia's new First Couple allegedly hoped to start cashing in before they officially became the First Couple. 
 
 News reports give readers the basic outline of the prosecution, but one has to read the indictment itself -- it's just 43 pages -- to grasp the full extent of the McDonnells' alleged corruption. The gist of the case is that the governor and his wife, in debt and constantly worried about money, cultivated a "friendship" with Virginia pharmaceutical entrepreneur Jonnie Williams and almost immediately began asking him for money and gifts, at the same time holding out hope that the governor would help Williams' company, Star Scientific, win clinical trials for its main product, an anti-inflammatory diet supplement that Williams believed had the potential to treat all sorts of ailments. 
 
 McDonnell, who had been the attorney general of Virginia, was elected governor on Nov. 3, 2009. His victory was a huge bright spot for a Republican Party that had taken a beating in the 2008 elections and had no power in the face of President Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress. He was inaugurated on Jan. 16, 2010. 
 
 During the campaign, in March 2009, according to the indictment, Attorney General McDonnell's staff approached Williams — who is referred to throughout the indictment as "JW" — about McDonnell using Williams' private jet in the campaign. "Prior to this time," the indictment says, "McDonnell and JW had never met, and they had no personal or professional relationship." 
 
 According to the indictment, the two met briefly during the campaign but were basically strangers when McDonnell was elected governor. Then, in December 2009, when McDonnell was governor-elect, Williams asked to meet with McDonnell at an event at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York. At the meeting, Maureen McDonnell allegedly asked Williams for help buying a dress for the upcoming inauguration. Williams said yes. According to the indictment, Maureen McDonnell later told one of her husband's senior staffers, identified only as "JE," that Williams "had agreed to purchase a designer dress by Oscar de la Renta … for the inauguration." 
 
 Remember — Bob McDonnell was not even governor yet, and his wife allegedly was already asking for favors. When JE, the staffer, expressed reservations about the idea, finally telling Mrs. McDonnell that it was "inappropriate and should not be done," the soon-to-be first lady backed off, but was angry at her husband's staff. Not long later, she sent JE an email, which is included in the indictment: 
 
 I need to talk to you about Inaugural clothing budget. I need answers and Bob is screaming about the thousands I'm charging up in credit card debt. We are broke, have an unconscionable amount in credit card debt already, and this Inaugural is killing us!! I need answers and I need help, and I need to get this done. 
 
 In the end, Mrs. McDonnell did not accept the dress from Williams but allegedly said she would take a "rain check." 
 
 From there it was off to the races. In October 2010, Williams let McDonnell use his plane for a political trip to California. In the spring of 2011, according to the indictment, Mrs. McDonnell decided to collect on the "rain check." From the indictment: 
 
 On or about April 11, 2011, MAUREEN MCDONNELL contacted JW and requested that he take her shopping in New York City for the designer dress by Oscar de la Renta. MAUREEN MCDONNELL explained that she and ROBERT MCDONNELL were attending a political event at the Union League Club in New York City on April 13, 2011, and that she would ensure that JW was seated next to ROBERT MCDONNELL at the event. JW agreed to pay for the shopping trip. 
 
 On or about April 13, 2011, JW accompanied MAUREEN MCDONNELL to several luxury stores in New York City, including Oscar de la Renta, Louis Vuitton, and Bergdorf Goodman. MAUREEN MCDONNELL informed JW that she needed dresses and accessories for her daughter's upcoming wedding and for her and ROBERT MCDONNELL'S upcoming anniversary party. JW paid for the entire luxury shopping trip for MAUREEN MCDONNELL and spent approximately $10,999 at Oscar de la Renta, approximately $5,685 at Louis Vuitton, and approximately $2,604 at Bergdorf Goodman. As promised by MAUREEN MCDONNELL, JW was seated next to ROBERT MCDONNELL at the Union League Club event later that evening. 
 
 According to the indictment, Williams used his time near the governor to tout his company's products -- something called CigRx, to help people stop smoking, and an anti-inflammatory called Anatabloc. Williams wanted a scientific seal of approval attesting to his products' effectiveness, and the idea was for McDonnell to push one of the universities in the Virginia system to do a clinical study. 
 
 The next month, according to the indictment, Maureen McDonnell had a heart-to-heart with Williams, confessing to him that that family was in deep financial trouble. They had rental properties in Virginia Beach that weren't doing well in the economic downturn and were draining their bank account, plus plenty of other expenses they couldn't cover. She asked for a $50,000 loan. According to the indictment, she "told JW that she could help Star Scientific but that she needed JW's financial assistance." At the same meeting, Mrs. McDonnell allegedly asked Williams for another $15,000 to cover expenses for her daughter's upcoming wedding. 
 
 Williams later talked directly to the governor about the couple's financial problems, and agreed to loan the money — no paperwork involved. At the same time, according to the indictment, McDonnell starting bugging Virginia state health officials to take a look at Star Scientific's products. 
 
 According to prosecutors, the McDonnells started withdrawing from the Williams piggy bank in ways large and small. In May 2011, the governor took his sons to play at an exclusive golf course called Kinloch. Williams wasn't there, but the McDonnells charged it all to him: "approximately $1,200 in greens fees, $500 in caddie fees, $410 in merchandise at the pro shop, and $270 in food and beverages," according to the indictment — a total of $2,380. 
 
 In July 2011, the McDonnell family spent a few days at Williams' lavish home at Virginia's Smith Mountain Lake. This is a brief look at what happened, again from the indictment: 
 
 MAUREEN MCDONNELL had previously called JW to ask whether JW's Ferrari would be at the house for ROBERT MCDONNELL'S use. JW arranged to have a Star Scientific employee transport the Ferrari from Richmond to his Smith Mountain Lake house so that the defendants could use the Ferrari during their vacation. In addition, JW rented a boat specifically for the defendants' use during the vacation. On or about July 31, 2011, at approximately 7:47 p.m., MAUREEN MCDONNELL sent an email to JW that contained no text but had an attached picture of ROBERT MCDONNELL driving JW's Ferrari. 
 
 A day or two later, Maureen McDonnell allegedly met with Williams and noticed Williams was wearing a Rolex watch. She said she wanted to get one for her husband — would Williams mind buying it? She also wanted it engraved, with "71st Governor of Virginia" on the back. Williams bought the watch. In the next month, August 2011, the McDonnell men had three more pricey golf outings at Kinloch, all charged to Williams. 
 
 In February 2012, according to the indictment, McDonnell needed — and received — another infusion of $50,000 from Williams to keep the rental properties afloat. In May 2012, Williams sent another $20,000. 
 
 Williams also paid for a trip to a Cape Cod resort for the McDonnells. And there was also lots of small stuff at home, according to the indictment: 
 
 From in or about November 2012 through in or about March 2013, the defendants obtained yard work and other miscellaneous home repairs at their personal residence from one of JW's brothers. Those services included the installation of a hot tub cover that JW purchased for the defendants and work to re-stain the defendants' deck at their personal residence. 
 
 In January 2013, according to the indictment, Maureen McDonnell called Williams' assistant and asked that Williams buy airline tickets for two of the McDonnells' daughters to go to a bachelorette party in Savannah, Ga. Williams bought the tickets. 
 
 What did Williams get in return for all his money? According to the indictment, McDonnell allegedly used his influence to hold events related to Williams' products, to try to jump-start clinical trials, to connect Williams with state health officials. Things went so far that at times, it seemed as if the governor of Virginia was a pitchman in a diet supplement infomercial. From the indictment: 
 
 On or about March 21, 2012, ROBERT MCDONNELL met with the Virginia Secretary of Administration to discuss the Virginia state employee health plan and ways to reduce healthcare costs in Virginia. During the meeting, ROBERT MCDONNELL pulled some Anatabloc out of his pocket and told the Secretary of Administration and one of her staff members that Anatabloc had beneficial health effects, that he personally took Anatabloc, and that it was working well for him. ROBERT MCDONNELL asked the Secretary of Administration and her staff member to reach out to the "Anatabloc people" and meet with them to discuss Anatabloc. 
 
 There are plenty of other allegations in the indictment, most importantly Star Scientific stock transactions that prosecutors say the McDonnells tried to hide from state disclosure requirements. But the heart of the case is the McDonnells' unending requests for more money, more merchandise, more everything from Williams. 
 
 A former governor can make a lot of money. He can cash in on the influence he still has after leaving the statehouse. But if the indictment is correct, the McDonnells, in debt and wanting to drive Ferraris and wear Rolexes and play golf at swanky courses, couldn't wait, even four years, for the payoff. And that is the story of United States v. Robert F. McDonnell and Maureen G. McDonnell. 
 
 Read the full indictment below.
– Bob and Maureen McDonnell's corruption trial got under way this week, and it's yielding no dearth of grist for the mill. While it appeared financial problems drove Virginia's former first couple to accept $165,000 in loans and gifts from a donor, the McDonnells' lawyer put up what the Virginian-Pilot calls "a line of defense worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy" during yesterday's proceedings. Namely, that the McDonnells' marriage was so terrible that they "were barely on speaking terms," and thus couldn't have conspired. Maureen McDonnell "said she hated (her husband)," said lawyer John Brownlee. Bob McDonnell's long hours on the job and the couple's dreary finances resulted in "a rift so wide" that "an outsider"—in this case, Star Scientific honcho and mega-donor Jonnie Williams—"could invade and poison the marriage." Adding insult to injury, Maureen McDonnell had a major "crush" on the gift-giving Williams. An ex-federal prosecutor tells the AP that lawyers for the McDonnells are trying to build up the lovelorn-wife story to show that she was "duped" by Williams—who reportedly showered her with fancy clothes, trips, and cash in exchange for the governor's promotion of his business—and to break down the prosecution's case by "[creating] some sympathy" for Bob McDonnell. The Washington Post has a liveblog of the trial here, including a photo of the seemingly happy couple posing in Williams' Ferrari.