Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby doubled down Monday on her proclamation of innocence against charges that she deceptively claimed financial hardship from the coronavirus pandemic in order to obtain two vacation homes in Florida.
The embattled Mosby, joined by her attorney A. Scott Bolden and several supporters at a press conference, said she is prepared to fight the criminal indictment leveled against her by the federal government.
“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,” said Mosby, who rose to national prominence after unsuccessfully prosecuting several city police officers in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Black man who died while in police custody.
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, in which Mosby seeks reelection.
A grand jury on Thursday indicted Mosby on four felony counts of perjury and making false statements. Federal prosecutors allege she lied about suffering pandemic-related hardships to withdraw money without penalty from her retirement account and falsified information on loan applications for the Florida vacation homes.
Her defense is simple, Bolden said.
“She received financial advice that she was eligible to withdraw money from her retirement account,” he said. “I’m telling you she’s not only innocent, but we have professionals who she consulted with, and she qualifies under the statute.”
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 challenged.
Federal prosecutors allege 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 Mosby, Baltimore’s city council president, for $45,000 in unpaid taxes.
Bolden intimated that the case is part of a politically motivated witch hunt 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 said. “My clients didn’t get it, and it wasn’t delivered or to them in the normal way if you will.”