Rapper convicted of pumping millions to Obama campaign seeks new trial, says ex-attorney used AI for argument

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Pras Michel of the Fugees is seeking a new trial by arguing his former lawyer used artificial intelligence to generate his closing argument before the hip-hop artist was found guilty of helping a foreign national launder millions of dollars in illegitimate contributions to former President Barack Obama’s campaign. 

Michel was convicted in April after being accused of taking part in an extensive conspiracy to use about $88 million in foreign funds to engage in illegal back-channel lobbying and make unlawful campaign contributions at the direction of the People’s Republic of China. He filed a motion on Monday asking the court for a new trial on all counts. 

The motion argues Michel’s 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 "then publicly boasted that the AI program ‘turned hours or days of legal work into seconds,’" Michel’s new defense team from D.C.-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."

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Pras Michel, former member of the Fugees, center, and his lawyer David Kenner arrive to federal court in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, April 3, 2023.  (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a declaration accompanying the motion, former federal prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg noted how "Michel’s prior publicist also informed members of the current defense team that Kenner proudly stated at the end of the trial words to the effect of ‘AI wrote our closing.’" Zeidenberg cited a press release published by a firm called Eyelevel in May that claimed its AI litigation assistance technology "made history" in "becoming the first use of generative AI in a federal trial."

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)

"The case involved Pras Michel, a former member of the hip-hop band The Fugees, who was on trial for international fraud charges," the press release said, omitting the fact Michel had been convicted on all ten felony charges after three days of jury deliberation. 

The three-week trial involved testimony from high-profile witnesses including Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. 

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The firm's press release quoted Kenner as having described the AI technology as "an absolute game changer for complex litigation."

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)

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Michel conspired with wealthy Malaysian businessman Jho Low and several others to engage in undisclosed lobbying campaigns at the direction of Low and the Vice Minister of Public Security for the People’s Republic of China, the Justice Department said. A federal grand jury found Michel guilty of using his celebrity status and access to influence U.S. government officials on behalf of undisclosed foreign interests. 

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The entertainer was convicted of orchestrating an unregistered, back-channel campaign beginning in or about 2017 to influence the Obama administration and the Department of Justice to drop an embezzlement investigation of Low in connection with the international strategic and development company known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and to send a Chinese national back to China, as well as conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the 2012 U.S. presidential election.