The case against former Fugees rapper Pras Michel, accused of playing a central role in a geopolitical conspiracy spanning two US presidencies, will be in the hands of the jury Monday morning.
In prosecutors’ closing arguments, which concluded late Thursday afternoon, they laid out their case of how Michel allegedly took more than $100 million from Malaysian billionaire Jho Low to gain political influence for Low in the Obama and Trump administrations. Defense attorneys argued Michel was simply helping people make connections and never willfully or deliberately broke the law.
Michel faces multiple counts, including conspiracy to serve as an unregistered agent of China and witness tampering. He has pleaded not guilty.
“Mr. Michel is at the center of the conspiracy, he’s the core, he’s the linchpin,” prosecutor Sean Mulryne told the jury. “He was an insider threat who willingly broke the law to line his pockets.”
According to the government, Low gave Michel millions of dollars over the span of several years, some of which Michel allegedly funneled to then-President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign through multiple straw donors.
During President Donald Trump’s time in the White House, prosecutors say Michel was again paid by Low to help persuade the administration to drop investigations into Low as well as extradite Chinese dissident Guo Wengui, neither of which happened.
Low, who was named as a co-defendant in the case against Michel, is believed to be in China.
“Mr. Michel was greedy. He wanted money and he got it,” Mulryne said during closings. “This case is about foreign influence, it’s about foreign money, and it’s about greed.”
Michel’s attorney, David Kenner, told the jury that Michel was simply trying to get a business off the ground and took money from a wealthy playboy, spending it how…
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