Lori Loughlin Claims That The College Admissions Prosecutors Are Concealing Evidence Ahead Of Her Trial
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Trying To Build Her Defense
In the wake of Operation Varsity Blues, Lori Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, are facing charges of conspiring to commit federal programs bribery, conspiring to commit mail fraud and money laundering.
Loughlin has pleaded not guilty ahead of the official trial, and is working on building her case. Her legal team's latest track seems rather desperate: she and Giannulli are claiming that the government is withholding documents that prove their innocence, claiming that the intervention of a federal judge is "urgently needed."
They Believe The Government Is Hiding Documents
According to a statement made to Entertainment Tonight:
"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.
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."
Preparing For Her Trial
A source told US Weekly is very involved with her lawyers in preparing for her trial.
"Lori has been meeting with her lawyers for days at a time. 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 Full House star is also participating in "grueling" mock trials in order to present the best front on the day. The source explains that "her lawyer plays the prosecutor, grilling her."
The Scam
Considering the other details that have come out since the scandal broke -- emails from Giannulli talking about having to go outside the system and Loughlin telling her girls that they needed to do better in high school -- make this particular track seem... like a long shot at best.
The man behind the scandal, Rick Singer, told the FBI that he informed the couple 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."
