Lori Loughlin Told Daughters They Needed to Do Better in High School, Court Docs Allege
Lori Loughlin told her daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, to do better in high school, according to new court documents obtained by ET.
The newly surfaced documents claim that Loughlin instructed the girls to improve academically at the same time she was allegedly working with William "Rick" Singer, the mastermind behind the college admissions scheme, to get the girls admitted into the University of Southern California.
Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get 20-year-old Olivia and 21-year-old Isabella, admitted to USC as recruits for the crew team (even though neither had ever participated in the sport) as part of an alleged college admissions scam.
According to the documents, Singer was interviewed by the FBI earlier this year, during which he admitted telling Loughlin and Giannulli, that “in exchange for getting Isabella admitted to the University of Southern California ('USC') as a recruited coxswain, they would need to write a $50,000 check to Donna Heinel at USC and pay an additional $200,000 through the KWF.”
The documents detailing the interview also state that Singer claimed that “Lori Loughlin was in charge and told the couple’s daughters that they needed to do better in high school.” Singer further alleged that he didn’t need to explain his scheme to Loughlin and Giannulli when it came to Olivia, as the parents were already familiar with how it worked after allegedly using it to get Isabella admitted to USC.
When Philip Petrone, the Co-Director of College Counseling at the girls’ school, Marymount High School, questioned Singer on why Olivia had been admitted to USC as a recruit to the crew team given that she did not participate, Singer advised Giannulli to discuss the matter with Petrone, according to the documents.
The documents note that Petrone himself allegedly told the government that Giannulli informed him that Olivia was a coxswain and that he assured Giannulli he would pass that information onto USC.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline Landry, Head of School at Marymount High School, is said to have claimed that Giannulli told her Olivia rowed crew at a private club and that she told him she would not interfere with Olivia’s application to USC.
The new information comes to light just days after Loughlin and Giannulli filed new court documents, claiming that federal prosecutors are hiding evidence that could clear them in the scandal.
According to those documents, Loughlin and Giannulli are asking a federal judge for "urgently needed" help in getting the government to hand over evidence that they claim will prove they did not bribe a director at the USC to get their daughters into the school.
"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 documents state.
The documents continue, "If, for example, USC knew of Singer’s operation and accepted donations to the university from Singer’s clients as legitimate, then not only was there no bribery at USC, but also no fraud conspiracy at all."
ET has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston for comment.
Loughlin and Giannulli’s next court hearing, which they are not required to attend, is on Jan. 17, 2020. The couple has pleaded not guilty to the charges in the college admissions scandal.
They were also charged in a second superseding indictment on conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering in April, and have pleaded not guilty. In a third superseding indictment in October, the couple was further charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. They pleaded not guilty.
The latest update in the case comes shortly after a source told ET that Loughlin is "breaking down" and is at "her very worst."
"People are coming out in support of her lately but she is afraid to open up," the source said. "She's concerned if she talks to the wrong people that her opinions will get out and somehow affect the case."
Watch the video below for more on Loughlin.
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