Fugees rapper Pras Michel, who was convicted in April for taking part in an extensive conspiracy to help a foreign national make illegal contributions to former President Barack Obama's campaign, after making approximately $88 million in foreign funds as part of a back-channel lobbying scheme at the direction of the People's Republic of China.
Pras Michel, a member of the 1990's hip-hop group the Fugees and his lawyer David Kenner arrive at U.S. District Court on April 3, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
On Monday of last week, Michel demanded a new trial, arguing that his former defense attorney David Kenner "used an experimental AI program to write his closing argument, which made frivolous arguments, conflated the schemes and failed to highlight key weaknesses in the Government’s case."
Kenner allegedly "then publicly boasted that the AI program ‘turned hours or days of legal work into seconds."
Michel's new defense team from DC-based ArentFox Schiff wrote "It is now apparent that Kenner and his co-counsel appear to have had an undisclosed financial stake in the AI program, and they experimented with it during Michel’s trial so they could issue a press release afterward promoting the program — a clear conflict of interest."
"The case involved Pras Michel, a former member of the hip-hop band The Fugees, who was on trial for international fraud charges," reads the press release, which omits the fact that he'd been convicted on all ten felony charges after the jury took three days to deliberate.
Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel of The Fugees perform during the 2023 The Roots Picnic at The Mann on June 3, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Live Nation Urban)
As Fox News further notes, Michel's trial involved testimony from high-profile witnesses, including Leonardo DiCaprio, and former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
According to the new legal team, Kenner (the old attorney) described the AI tech as "an absolute game changer for complex litigation."