Lori Loughlin’s lawyers claim Justice Department is ‘concealing’ evidence that proves she and husband Mossimo Giannulli are innocent in college admissions scandal
- Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to have their two daughters admitted to USC
- But lawyers now claim the Justice Department is concealing evidence that shows the couple believed they were making ‘legitimate donations’
- Attorneys want the Justice Department to hand over the FBI’s ‘302 Reports’ – a series of statements and interview notes taken during the investigation
- The reports will allegedly bolster the couple’s claims that ‘they did not understand or intend that [their] payments would be used to bribe’
- Loughlin and Giannulli’s trial is scheduled to start in Boston next month
Lawyers for Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli claim the Justice Department has failed to turn over evidence in the Operation Varsity Blues case that will prove the celebrity couple are innocent.
Loughlin, 55, and Giannulli, 56, have pleaded not guilty to paying $500,000 in bribes to have their two daughters admitted into the University of Southern California as fake rowing recruits.
On Friday, the couple’s attorneys filed a motion in the case asking a judge to force prosecutors to hand over exculpatory evidence that will show Loughlin and Giannulli believed they were making ‘legitimate donations’, rather than bribes, to Rick Singer – the mastermind of the college admissions scheme who ran a nonprofit named Key Worldwide Foundation.
The lawyers, led by Sean Berkowitz, are particularly interested in the FBI’s ‘302 Reports’ – a series of statements and interview notes that were taken during the course of the investigation.
Lawyers for Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli claim the Justice Department has failed to turn over evidence in the Operation Varsity Blues case that will prove the celebrity couple are innocent. The pair are pictured at a hearing this past summer
The motion reads: ‘The Government’s theory in this case is that Giannulli and Loughlin knowingly bribed a rogue USC administrator in order to secure their daughters’ admission to the university, but the Government appears to be concealing exculpatory evidence that helps show that both Defendants believed all of the payments they made would go to USC itself — for legitimate, university-approved purposes — or to other legitimate charitable causes.
‘The Government’s failure to disclose this information is unacceptable, and this Court should put a stop to it.
‘The Government’s failures directly threaten Giannulli and Loughlin’s constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law’.
The couple’s trial is set to start in Boston on January 17, 2020, though the couple is not mandated to attend.
The couple’s team of lawyers is led by high-powered legal eagle Sean Berkowitz (pictured)
Loughlin and Mossimo say they did not know their $500,000 donations were bribes
The motion comes after a report from Us Weekly which says Loughlin and Giannulli are staging mock trials to prepare for intense cross examinations in the impending trial.
‘Her lawyer plays the prosecutor, grilling her,’ the magazine reported, calling the sessions ‘grueling.’
Lori is said to be ‘adamant’ about wanting to take the stand, which she has been made aware is a big risk.
‘Lori has been meeting with her lawyers for days at a time,’ the source said. ‘It’s her full-time job and she is very involved with her defense. When not at her lawyer’s office, Lori is emailing and texting with the team.’
The couple have been charged with mail fraud, money laundering and bribery, and will face up to 60 years in prison if found guilty.
Loughlin is pictured with daughters Olivia Jade (left) and Isabella (right) – whom prosecutors claim were fraudulently admitted to USC