Andrew Wise was quoted regarding Maureen McDonnell's pending trial following a 14-count indictment against her and husband, former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell, in the wake of criminal charges alleging illegal gifts and payments from Jonnie Williams. According to the McDonnells' separate attorneys, Maureen McDonnell is willing to testify that her husband had no knowledge of her personal interactions with Williams, but only if the trials are separate. If the couple were to be tried together, either party could invoke the Fifth Amendment right not to testify as well as marital privilege to remain silent on details of private conversations. However, if the trials are separate, the order is significant. If Maureen McDonnell's trial followed her husband's, prosecutors might try to introduce as evidence any statement she made at the previous trial, Wise said. "It certainly is a strategy with some risk."