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'A Vindictive Federal Criminal Investigation': Mosbys' Attorney Wants Federal Prosecutors Removed From Probe Into Their Finances

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Governor Larry Hogan weighed in on the federal criminal investigation into Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby and her husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby, during his COVID-19 briefing Tuesday afternoon.

"I don't know anything about the investigation other than what I read in the media," the governor told reporters. "It's very concerning. Obviously, there's a federal investigation going on, and we're getting bits and pieces of it. But it's obviously something that needs to be looked into."

Those new comments came as the couple's lawyer took the unusual step of demanding the Department of Justice remove two veteran federal prosecutors from the probe.

 

A Scott Bolden wrote the D.O.J.'s Office of Professional Responsibility, "There is no question that the investigation against my clients is frivolous, politically motivated and arises from the animus both Mr. Schenning and Mr. Wise have against state's attorney Mosby."

Schenning is Stephen Schenning, the former acting U.S. attorney. Wise is Leo Wise, the assistant U.S. attorney who has handled numerous high-profile criminal prosecutions—including against Mayor Catherine Pugh, police commissioner Darryl De Sousa and members of the police Gun Trace Task Force.

 

The Mosbys' lawyer claims prosecutors leaked the case to the press but provided no evidence of that.

"Their animus is further demonstrated by the fact that they have intentionally revealed facts of a secret grand jury investigation to the media in an effort to harass, degrade, and embarrass my clients," Bolden wrote.

The subpoena was available publicly through the State Board of Elections after Marilyn Mosby's campaign treasurer provided it to election officials.

Bolden also claims prosecutors interrupted Nick Mosby during a Board of Estimates meeting on March 10th, although nothing is shown on camera. Mosby ended the meeting saying, "Love you, Baltimore."

"Rather than leave a subpoena or conduct their field investigation outside of the scope of public view, the FBI interrupted Council President Mosby during a public meeting in an effort to alert the public of the pending investigation," Bolden told the D.O.J. in his letter.

The attorney claims there's a conflict of interest because federal prosecutors previously accused state's attorney Marilyn Mosby's office of leaking information to the ringleader of the GTTF, disgraced Sgt. Wayne Jenkins.

"Even a cursory review of the history here reveals that since at least 2017, Messrs. Schenning and Wise have been engaged in a smear campaign to falsely accuse State's Attorney Mosby and her staff of improperly leaking certain facts regarding the USAO's prosecution of members of the Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force (the "GTTF Prosecution"). Despite State's Attorney Mosby's multiple requests to Mr. Schenning for relevant evidence regarding the alleged leak within her office, Mr. Schenning's office instead chose to make a public accusation (through Mr. Wise) against State's Attorney Mosby and her office during the detention hearing of Wayne Jenkins, an officer charged and convicted as part of the GTTF Prosecution. For more than a year, State's Attorney Mosby engaged in dialogue with Mr. Schenning and Mr. Wise about their rationale for implicating her office in what was determined to be unsubstantiated accusations that were motivated simply to cast aspersions on her office," Bolden wrote in his letter.

The Washington Post first reported on Bolden's letter.

Jeremy Eldridge, a former city prosecutor who is now a partner at ENLawyers, said the Mosbys have reason to be worried about the investigation, despite no charges having been filed against them.

"Dealing with two heavy-hitting prosecutors in Baltimore City who have a recent reputation for taking down high profile politicians, I would be incredibly concerned if I were the Mosbys, which is why their lawyer has been so vocal about contesting their innocence publicly," Eldridge told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.

The U.S. Attorney's office is seeking a large amount of financial information from the Mosbys including tax returns for the past six years.

The couple has continued working and has made no public comment on the investigation outside of their lawyer's statements.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has declined any comment to WJZ about the Mosbys' allegations or even the existence of an investigation.

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