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Federal Prosecutors Call Mosby's Motion To Dismiss 'Baseless' In Scathing Filing

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Federal prosecutors on Friday filed a searing response to Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's request to dismiss federal charges against her, calling her position "meritless" and her arguments "disingenuous."

A grand jury indicted Mosby in January on four felony counts including charges of perjury and making false statements. Federal prosecutors allege she lied about suffering COVID-19 hardships to withdraw money without penalty from her retirement account and falsified information on loan applications for vacation homes in Florida.

Mosby has maintained her innocence and insists she is the target of Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise -- who made donations to Mosby's top challengers in the 2018 election cycle -- and former acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Schenning.

Mosby's lawyers have described the case as the "culmination of a long-running crusade to ruin the political career of a young, progressive, Black, female elected official, led by a prosecutor who has repeatedly made financial contributions to the campaigns of her political opponents."

Prosecutors in the filing ridiculed the idea that the indictment was personal and vindictive.

"The Defendant's theory appears to be that AUSA Wise made these contributions because he thought $200 could change the outcome of a city-wide and then, when he was unsuccessful, he lay in wait for three years in order to launch a "witch hunt" targeting the Defendant" the filing said.

Mosby's attorney A. Scott Bolden has also claimed his client was the target of a smear campaign by Schenning during the investigation into Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force.

"The Defendant's claim that she was the victim of a smear campaign during the GTTF investigation is breathtakingly disingenuous," prosecutors said in the filing.

Mosby's defense has also attacked U.S. Attorney Erek Barron, filing a statement from a witness who claimed Barron discussed rumors about Mosby's sex life and then allegedly said, "I don't understand all the hype around her. I don't get it. She was my intern, and I don't get how she got where she is."

In the filing, prosecutors identified what they characterized as a pattern of Mosby attacking authorities who question her.

"The Defendant's meritless motion to dismiss is part of a pattern. The Defendant publicly attacks any law enforcement professional who questions her behavior."

Since the January indictment, Mosby and her attorney have held events and made national news appearances to make their case that the indictment is personal.

"The Defendant's Motion to Dismiss and to Disqualify Counsel are a mishmash of unsupported allegations, inaccuracies, misstatements, and baseless personal attacks. These patent misrepresentations are as unmoored from any law as they are factually untrue," the prosecutors said.

In a superseding indictment filed Thursday, federal prosecutors added new details to the allegations she lied on loan applications to purchase two vacation homes in Florida.

Mosby is set to face a jury in the criminal case against her on May 2nd.

 

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