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WASHINGTON (AP) — A prominent defense attorney whose star clients have included Snoop Dogg pleaded guilty Friday to leaking grand jury information to reporters about a political conspiracy case against a rapper from the Fugees. Michel's trial included testimony from such figures as actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Kenner’s attorney said in court documents that the reporters originally agreed to sign a protective order, but later changed their minds. L. Barrett Boss, one of the defense attorneys, said Kenner was planning to retire after Michel’s trial. But Boss said Kenner is “very strained financially” because he spent $1.4 million “out of pocket” on Michel’s defense.

Persons: Snoop Dogg, David Kenner, Suge Knight, Tory Lanez, Kenner, ” Michel, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Sessions, ” Kenner, Michel, Peter Zeidenberg, Kenner misattributing, Diddy, Judge Amit Mehta, Mehta, Barrett Boss, Boss, Pras Michel, Erica Dumas, Barack Obama’s, Trump, DiCaprio, Jho, _____ Whitehurst Organizations: WASHINGTON, Bloomberg News, U.S, Bloomberg, Kenner, Justice Department, Hollywood Locations: California, Washington, U.S, Malaysian, China, Philadelphia

[1/6] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with President of the European Council Charles Michel, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 21, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsKYIV, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European Council chief Charles Michel warned on Tuesday that a European Union meeting next month to decide whether to begin formal accession talks for Kyiv would be difficult. I think this is the decision which will help Ukraine to believe that there is justice...," Zelenskiy told reporters. "All these are big challenges for everyone and already not only for Ukraine, but a challenge for preserving the unity of the European Union," he said. "It will be a difficult meeting but I do not intend to give up," Michel said, adding that the world needed a strong European Union to ensure stability and prosperity.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Charles Michel, Michel, Maia Sandu, Zelenskiy, Michel's, Sandu, Boris Pistorius, Tom Balmforth, Yuliia Dysa, Dan Peleschuk, Alexandra Hudson, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: European, Presidential Press Service, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Union, Zelenskiy, Moldovan, European Union, Kyiv, ACT AS ONE, EU, German, IRIS, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Moldova, Russia, Moscow, Soviet Moldova, Brussels, Soviet Moscow, Crimea

☆ Fugees rapper Pras Michel's ex-lawyer botched his fraud trial by using AI for closing arguments, his new legal team says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

David Kenner, an attorney known for representing Suge Knight, Tupac Shakur, and Snoop Dogg, ran Michel's defense for the trial. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut Michel's new lawyers, a legal team from ArentFox Schiff, now say Kenner botched the defense by using an "experimental artificial intelligence program" to draft his closing arguments. "Michel never had a chance," the ArentFox Schiff team wrote, adding that Michel's legal defense was "deficient throughout." Michel's lawyers said his former publicist told them about Kenner using EyeLevel.AI to write the closing arguments. Kenner and the ArentFox Schiff team did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: Pras Michel, David Kenner, Kenner, —, Michel, Suge Knight, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, ArentFox Schiff, Schiff, EyeLevel.AI Organizations: Service, Suge, Kenner, Kenner Law, Daily Locations: Malaysian, EyeLevel.AI, Encino , California, New York City, EyeLevel

The arguments in the Michel case could preview issues to come as the technology makes a rapid advance. “We think AI technology is gong to completely revolutionize the legal field by making it faster and cheaper to get complex answers to legal questions and research,” Katz said. “At bottom, the AI program failed Kenner, and Kenner failed Michel. Using it for closing arguments is complicated because of the many factors that develop over the course of a trial, he said. Generative AI, meanwhile, also sometimes produces “hallucinations,” statements that initially read as if they are accurate but are not.

Persons: ” Michel, Michel, David Kenner, Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg, Kenner, Diddy, Peter Zeidenberg, It's, Neil Katz, “, ” Katz, Sharon Nelson, “ It's, ”, Zeidenberg, Barack Obama’s, Trump, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Sessions, John Villasenor Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Associated Press, Sensei Enterprises, Justice Department, U.S, University of California, American Bar Association Locations: Malaysian, China, Los Angeles

☆ Fugees rapper convicted in US over lobbying campaigns with Malaysian financier
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | Thomson Reuters | Sarah N. Lynch Is The Lead Reporter For Reuters Covering The U.S. Justice Department Out Of Washington | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Nathan HowardWASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday convicted Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel of The Fugees hip hop group on criminal charges that he conspired with a Malaysian financier to orchestrate a series of foreign lobbying campaigns aimed at influencing the U.S. government under two presidents. Low, who also faces separate federal charges in New York that he embezzled $4.5 billion from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, remains at large. Because federal election law prohibits foreigners from donating to U.S. campaigns, prosecutors said Michel masked the source of the funds. "Once he gave me the money, it was my discretion how I spent the money because it's my money," Michel told the jury, describing the payment as "free money." On whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, Michel told jurors that his attorney George Higgenbotham never told him it was required by law.

☆ Ex-DOJ lawyer tells jury he met with Chinese to further illegal lobbying campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | Thomson Reuters | Sarah N. Lynch Is The Lead Reporter For Reuters Covering The U.S. Justice Department Out Of Washington | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

George Higginbotham testified that he made money on the side while working at the Justice Department by offering legal advice to Michel, a long-time friend. But he did so anyway, telling the jury he let his friendship with Michel cloud his judgment. "This could get me in a lot of trouble," he told the jury he recalled thinking, adding that his actions were "definitely outside of official lines." Higginbotham, who pleaded guilty in 2018 for his role in the foreign influence campaign, testified that Justice Department investigators later found out about his meeting and questioned him. Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Leonardo DiCaprio testifies in Fugees rapper's lobbying trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | Thomson Reuters | Sarah N. Lynch Is The Lead Reporter For Reuters Covering The U.S. Justice Department Out Of Washington | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DiCaprio is one of several prominent figures linked to Low, who is suspected of embezzling $4.5 billion from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. Michel faces 11 criminal counts for trying to influence the administrations of Obama and former President Donald Trump. Prosecutors said Michel agreed to funnel money into Obama's 2012 re-election campaign and hide the source of the funds. Prosecutors said Michel later waged an illegal influence campaign to persuade the Trump administration to stop investigating Low. Michel and other co-conspirators are also accused of lobbying the Trump administration at China's behest to return Guo to China.

☆ Fugees rapper Pras Michel was 'willing to break any laws necessary to get paid' in alleged international fraud scheme, prosecutor said
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The conspiracy and fraud trial of American rapper Pras Michel kicked off on Thursday. Prosecutors alleged that Michel was involved in an international scheme to influence the US government. Michel is accused of working with Malaysian businessman and fugitive Jho Low. "Low had money to burn and the defendant was willing to cash in at any turn," Lockhart said. McMaster, casino mogul Steve Wynn, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in the 2013 film "The Wolf Of Wall Street" that Low helped fund.

[1/5] Grammy award-winning Fugees rapper Prakazrel (Pras) Michel, who is facing criminal charges in an alleged illegal lobbying campaign, arrives for opening arguments in his trial at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., March 30, 2023. "This is a case about foreign money, influence and concealment," Lockhart said during her opening statement in Washington on Thursday. "Through this scheme, the defendant duped the Obama campaign," Lockhart told the jury. For his work on these two lobbying campaigns on behalf of Low and China, prosecutors said Michel was paid $70 million. Low remains a fugitive in the Michel case.

☆ The U.S. wants the EU to be strict with China. But Europe can't afford it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The United States has stepped up its heavy rhetoric against China, and wants Europe to follow suit. Reports suggested that American officials had told European counterparts to consider using export control restrictions on China. "While the U.S. is trying to pull the EU into its direction to distance itself from China, the EU is keen to maintain economic ties to China. This comes at a time when the relationship between the EU and U.S. is turning a little sour. The EU said this challenges international trade rules and is a threat to European companies.

☆ Feds plan to call Leonardo DiCaprio and former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly at trial of Fugees rapper Pras Michel
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Pras Michel, a founding member of the Fugees hip-hop group, is standing trial in DC next month. He's accused of illegally lobbying Trump officials to resolve an inquiry into the 1MDB scandal. In a court filing Sunday, prosecutors revealed a witness list that includes DiCaprio and top Trump administration officials, including former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former national security advisor H.R. As part of the scheme, prosecutors said, Michel recruited about 20 so-called "straw donors" who made campaign contributions with Low's money. Michel is charged with violating both FARA and that other statute, known as 951, in his alleged lobbying schemes.

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