In new court filings, feds say Mosby has ‘invented a tale of victimhood’

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Federal prosecutors accused Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby of inventing a “tale of victimhood” to deflect from her criminal charges in a lengthy response to her allegations of bias filed Friday.

In a 61-page filing, the government asked U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby to deny Mosby’s motion to dismiss the indictment. Mosby faces two counts each of perjury and making false statements on loan applications.

“The Defendant’s motion finds no support in the facts, the law, or even logic and should be denied as meritless,” the prosecutors wrote. “Name calling is not facts and that is all the Defendant offers.”

Mosby has argued that the prosecution against her is motivated by political and racial animus. She has levied claims against the lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise, based in part on the fact that he made donations of $100 to each of her competitors in the 2018 Democratic primary. Mosby went on to win that election.

Mosby has also indicated that she plans to run for reelection this year and that the indictment was timed to hurt her chances in the campaign.

The prosecutors’ response calls that claim “preposterous” and notes that Wise made small, solicited campaign donations to professional acquaintances during the 2018 election. Both of Mosby’s competitors in that race, Thiru Vignarajah and Ivan Bates, provided declarations indicating that they asked Wise for the donations.

The response claims that Mosby’s “meritless motion to dismiss is part of a pattern. The Defendant publicly attacks any law enforcement professional who questions her behavior.”

“The Defendant has invented a tale of victimhood in an attempt to deflect attention from her own behavior,” the prosecutors wrote. “As the evidence at trial will show, the only thing the Defendant is a victim of is her own lies and choices.”

The indictment against Mosby alleges that she falsely claimed financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to withdraw money from her retirement account without incurring the usual penalty. She is also accused of failing to disclose a $45,000 IRS lien when she applied for mortgages on two properties in Florida.

Prosecutors filed a superseding indictment Thursday that added details to the allegations, but did not bring any additional charges.

In pretrial motions, Mosby’s lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, said Mosby did not know about the tax lien when she applied for the Florida mortgages. The motions blame Mosby’s husband, City Council President Nick Mosby, for failing to inform her of a series of tax problems and then telling her, incorrectly, that the lien had been paid off.

The prosecutors’ response also claims that Mosby never formally offered to go before a federal grand jury and testify while the investigation against her was still pending. The response claims that Mosby’s lawyers asked if the government would consider giving Mosby a “queen for a day” letter, which would have granted limited immunity and protection against incriminating statements.

The response also denies that the investigation into Mosby began with a referral from Maryland Bar Counsel, which Mosby alleged in pretrial filings.

Mosby has received about 17,000 pages of discovery since being indicted, according to the response.

“While this may seem like a substantial number of pages, it is relatively light by comparison to other federal fraud cases. Moreover, much of the discovery consists of the Defendant’s own bank statements,” the prosecutors noted.

Mosby’s trial is set for May 2.