The novel coronavirus may have shut down all aspects of life, but one story keeps going: Lori Loughlin’s alleged role in the college admissions scandal coined Operation Varisty Blues. It’s been just over a year since the case — which claims the actress and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, bribed their two daughters into USC — was made public, and throughout she’s maintained her innocence, even as the trial could end with her sentenced to a 50-year sentence. Now there’s yet another twist: As per Deadline, Loughlin, Giannulli as well as other defendants are formally seeking to have the case dismissed.
The pair’s defense team filed a claim to federal court on Wednesday, claiming the U.S. Attorney’s Office browbeat scam ringleader William Singer into implicating Loughlin and Giannulli. The lawyers claim Singer initially told them the money they’d give him were donations, but prosecutors forced him to say they were actually “bribes.”
“The extraordinary government misconduct presented in this case threatens grave harm to defendants and the integrity of this proceeding,” Loughlin and Giannulli’s lawyers alleged. “That misconduct cannot be ignored.”
Loughlin and Giannulli are set to go on trial in October. Meanwhile, Felicity Huffman already served a very short sentence after pleading guilty to being involved in the scandal.
(Via Deadline)
