Fugees rapper launches defense in multimillion-dollar political embezzlement case
foxnews.comA Fugees rapper on trial in a multimillion-dollar campaign finance and foreign influence case was trying to reinvent himself as he entered the political arena, not break any laws, defense attorneys said Monday.
Prakazrel "Pras" Michel became a best-selling, Grammy-winning artist with the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, but in the years after its breakup was looking for his next chapter, attorney David Kenner said as he began making the defense case.
Michel surrounded himself with people to help with his transition to politics and eventually entered the orbit of a wealthy Malaysian "playboy" but didn’t engage in "James Bond … cloak and dagger stuff," he said. "There was no agreement to do anything in an unlawful way," Kenner said.
Michel is charged in political conspiracies under two different U.S. presidents. Federal prosecutors say he funneled money from the fugitive Malaysian financier through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
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