Two children of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell say his stunning downfall and conviction on public corruption charges can largely be attributed to the corrosive effects of just one person: their mother.
Jeanine McDonnell Zubowsky and Cailin Young wrote blunt — and at times scathing — letters to a federal judge that it was former first lady Maureen McDonnell’s materialism and mental health issues that derailed the rising political career of her husband. The letters of support for Robert McDonnell were part of a trove of 440 submitted by his attorneys, who are seeking leniency at his Jan. 6 sentencing in Richmond.
“My mom … has always been concerned about getting discounts or freebees,” McDonnell Zubowsky wrote. “She hid her coordination with people for free or discounted things or services, and she didn’t communicate with my dad because she knew he would not approve. … The testimony about my mom was not just part of a defense strategy and was not an attempt to ‘throw her under the bus,’ but unfortunately was the reality.”
Both daughters echoed themes that emerged at McDonnell’s trial last summer, saying their father was an upstanding and religious man who was privately struggling with a crumbling marriage and his wife’s unhappiness.
Robert and Maureen McDonnell were convicted in September of using the prestige of the governor’s office to promote the company of nutritional supplement chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. in exchange for lavish gifts and loans.
The McDonnell children said their parents rarely communicated because their relationship was so strained.
McDonnell Zubowsky wrote that she thought her mother had mental health problems for years and her father planned to address the issues after he left office. She wrote that her mother was lonely as her father’s political career took off and she sought solace in material things.
Young wrote that the public humiliation and trauma of the conviction had shattered their family members’ lives and that they would have a difficult time if he were imprisoned.
“My Father is the heart and soul of our family, and we will be lost without him,” Young wrote.
