Pras Michel, a member of the Fugees, informs the court that he is an FBI informant.
Markeaus Turner 04/26/2023
Pras Michel, a member of the US hip hop duo Fugees alongside Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, has told a court that he freely met with and gave information with the FBI, according to Rolling Stone.
Last Tuesday, April 18, Michel took the unprecedented choice to testify in his own federal conspiracy trial.
Michel is accused of receiving money to further China's interests and to help Malaysian billionaire Jho Low acquire political contacts in the United States in order to influence the Obama and Trump administrations.
Prosecutors believe Michel earned $100 million for unlawfully lobbying President Donald Trump's government to deport Guo Wengui, a questionable self-proclaimed Beijing dissident wanted in his native country on fraud charges.
Wengui is at the center of a $1 billion fraud operation and has been living in self-exile in the United States since roughly 2015, with close ties to Trumpist Republicans like Steve Bannon.
According to Mother Jones, the newspaper was approached in 2017 with a pitch that included a four-page document from Pras Michel "proposing an article on the US government's refusal to grant China's request for the extradition of a prominent dissident living in New York."
Michel informed the court in his defense that he freely talked with FBI investigators on China's efforts to extradite Guo Wengui.
According to Dan Friedman, a Mother Jones writer who attended the trial, Michel chose to testify "after consulting with my attorneys and the universe."
Prosecutors also accuse Michel of funneling money from Low into Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012, as well as pressing Trump's government to cease an ongoing investigation into Low and the activities of his 1MDB investment business.
Michel claimed that Low paid him $20 million to help him acquire a photo with Barack Obama, with Michel claiming to function as a "celebrity surrogate" to help Low gain entry to political fundraisers that his reputation for partying would otherwise prevent him from attending.
Michel is said to have paid $1 million of this money to an Obama-supporting political organisation in 2012, and another $865,000 to a network of straw donors who used it to make campaign donations.
When questioned if the money he got from Low was a gift or income, Friedman told the court, "I look at it as free money."
Michel has pled not guilty to federal accusations of conspiracy or fabricating documents, but he faces a total of ten charges, according to CNN, including witness tampering, failing to register as an agent in China, and conspiracy.
He faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted of "conspiring to make illegal campaign contributions using foreign funds."
In an interview with Rolling Stone last month, Michel asked, "What benefit would I get from breaking laws?" To me, it's not worth it. I've become a pariah.
"I've got friends who won't talk to me because they think there's a satellite in orbit listening to them," he stated. "I took it upon myself to report because I thought the FBI should know."
50 Cent replied to the claims by sharing an Instagram photo of Michel with the caption, "I knew this fool was a rat."
Fugees confirmed their reunion for a world tour in September 2021. Michel's ongoing legal struggle was cited as the cause for the tour's cancellation in early 2022.