XPost: alt.society.liberalism, alt.hollywood, sac.politics
XPost: rec.arts.tv, alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
From: leroysoetoro@kaga.com

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/01/14/lori- loughlin-withholding-discovery-college-admissions-scandal-feds/4465529002/

BOSTON — Federal prosecutors say parents still fighting charges in the
nation's college admissions scandal, including actress Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli, have not turned over any discovery evidence
despite requests from the government.

The claim, outlined in a joint interim report filed last week, comes ahead
of a status conference hearing Friday in Boston federal court.

It's part of a larger battle over discovery. Defense attorneys for
Loughlin and other parents last month accused prosecutors of refusing to
share reports of FBI interviews with the mastermind of the nationwide admissions scheme, Rick Singer. The two sides have asked for a hearing in February to take up the issue.

More:Lori Loughlin's attorneys argue feds are concealing evidence in
college admissions scandal

Before trial, the competing parties are obligated to share information, documents and other key evidence through a process known as discovery.

But prosecutors say with the exception of two defendants, William
McGlashan and Robert Zangrillo, parents have not turned over any
discovery. The government turned over its first batch of 3 million pages
of evidence — emails, phone logs, bank records and other documents — to
defense attorneys in April and May.

"The Defendants believe that it is premature to do so at this time," the
new court filing reads. "The Government disagrees with the Defendants’ assertion that it is 'premature' to provide their own discovery."

It continues: "The Defendants have now had approximately eight months to
review the Government’s discovery, confer with their clients, and
strategize regarding potential defenses. It is not premature to provide discovery, which they can later supplement, to the Government as required
by the rules."

Prosecutors argue that, under federal court rules, the defense had 28 days
to produce discovery following their clients' arraignments. But defense attorneys have taken the position that, because the government hasn't
fulfilled its discovery obligations, they "cannot reasonably be expected
to identify documents subject to reciprocal discovery."

William Trach, an attorney for Loughlin and Giannulli, did not respond to
a message seeking comment.

In a motion filed last month, the celebrity couple's legal team asked a
judge to intervene to force prosecutors to turn over "all information" concerning Singer's representations to his clients regarding payments to
the University of Southern California as well as information about "USC's knowledge of Singer's operation."

In particular, they singled out FBI reports, known as "302 reports," that detail statements and interview notes taken during the college admissions investigation.

Loughlin and Giannulli are among 36 parents accused of paying into a vast criminal network led by Singer, a college admissions consultant from California, who took payments in exchange for either tagging their
children as fake athletic recruits to get them admitted into elite
colleges or fixing their college entrance exam scores. Singer pleaded
guilty and and is cooperating with authorities.

The celebrity couple pleaded not guilty to federal charges for paying
$500,000 to a nonprofit led by Singer and a USC athletics official to get
their daughters tagged as crew recruits to slip them into the University
of Southern California. They're preparing for trial late this year. A date
is not set.

The couple's attorneys have argued the FBI reports would prove their main defense argument — that they understood their payments to be "legitimate donations" to USC itself, not bribes to USC officials.

Loughlin and Giannulli are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, honest services fraud, money laundering and federal programs
bribery, which was tacked on in October to parents who declined plea deals offered by prosecutors.

Fifty-three people, including the 36 parents as well as college coaches,
have been charged in the college admissions case. Thirty have either
pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty later while the remaining 23
prepare for trial.

Thirteen parents, including actress Felicity Huffman, have been sentenced
for their crimes. Only one parent avoided prison. Huffman served 11 days
of a two-week prison sentence in October after she completed her time
early.

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.



--
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.

Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump has boosted the economy, reduced illegal immigration,
appointed dozens of judges and created jobs.

Sore loser and NAMBLA supporter Nancy Pelosi just pulled the "Obamacare switcheroo" on "trumped up" impeachment charges.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)