By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Senior National
Correspondent
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby doubled down on her proclamation that she is innocent.
Attorney A. Scott Bolden and supporters of the embattled Mosby held a press conference Monday afternoon to announce that they’re prepared to fight criminal charges leveled by the federal government against Mosby.
Bolden, who also serves as corporation counsel for the National Newspaper Publishers Association, said he wants to go to trial before this year’s election, which Mosby seeks reelection.
A grand jury indicted Mosby on four felony counts on Thursday.
She faces 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.
Her defense is simple, Bolden remarked.
“She received financial advice that she was eligible to withdraw money from her retirement account,” he said relating to the case’s primary issue.
“I’m telling you she’s not only innocent, but we have professionals who she consulted with, and she qualifies under the statute,” Bolden declared.
During the news conference, the accomplished attorney quizzed media members.
“If you were not affected by COVID financially, whether you kept your job or not, raise your hand,” Bolden requested.
NDG 1/19: Voter Discrimination: The posthumous battle of John Lewis
Federal prosecutors alleged that Mosby’s gross salary increased between 2019 and 2020 from $239,000 to $248,000. Bolden countered that his client had established two new companies, and “those businesses were running, and they were being pursued and they were legally on the books.”
He said Mosby did not know about a tax lien filed in 2020 against her and husband Nick, Baltimore’s city council president, for $45,000 in unpaid taxes.
Bolden intimated that the case is part of a witch hunt and politically motivated to end the career of Mosby, who took office in 2015.
The attorney pointed out that the Mosby family only learned about the government lien through media reports.
“I’m not going to ask you where you got it from, but we certainly didn’t get it,” Bolden asserted. “My clients didn’t get it, and it wasn’t delivered to them in the normal way if you will.”
For her part, Mosby stated: “Without equivocation, I am innocent on the charges levied against me. I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be exonerated, and my name will be cleared.”
