ELI5: What's the deal with Marilyn Mosby?

Submitted by baltinerdist t3_10mpo5o in baltimore

I keep seeing news stories about her, her attorneys withdrawing from this case against her. I know she was a District Attorney / State's Attorney / whatever and there's political drama with her and her husband. What is it that she is meant to have done to be in such trouble?

I suppose I'm wondering like what's the story of the Mosby situation and then what's the actual story under the hood that isn't as apparent? (Aka she's on trial for X, but what's really going on is Y.)

I'm sure I could Google this but I feel the tea will be sweeter here in this sub!

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whatsapotato7 t1_j65wz6a wrote

So, MM used to be a line prosecutor. She quit and went to work for an insurance company. Her husband Nick was a city council person, and I guess it was pretty well liked in his district. That gave her name recognition. She ran against the States Attorney who used to be her boss' boss' boss. He was an old white dude named Greg. Greg was pretty good at his job but didn't really connect with Baltimore citizens. MM ran against him and somehow won. She had some companies that people were concerned about. She said essentially that they were inactive. The whole Freddie Gray thing happened on her watch. Whatever your feelings about, she definitely used the national press to get her face on the news and on the cover of some magazines. She botched it pretty seriously. It ruined her relationship with the Baltimore police. She made some other very unpopular decisions like trying Keith Davis over and over. She also made some pretty popular decisions like refusing to prosecute weed possessions, prostitution and some other low level bullshit. Meanwhile, Nick is getting more and more famous and eventually becomes Baltimore City Council president. It comes out that he may not have followed the law when getting campaign donations. He starts a Gofundme to pay for his lawyers. Gets in trouble for that too. MM (on her own or with her husband, who knows) decides right around the time COVID started that she needed a new vacation house. To get the cash for the down-payment, she wants to pull money out of her retirement. Ordinarily you'd have to pay crazy penalties to withdraw before you retire, but a COVID law let you do just that if you signed an affidavit (a document that is under oath) saying you were experiencing financial hardship because of COVID. She made more money during COVID than the year before. The feds said she lied under oath, which is perjury. She got indicted. She claims those inactive companies we mentioned earlier were even less active and that's how she experienced a hardship. Also, her and Nick didn't pay their water bill for like a year and it came out that it was almost 1,000 dollars at one point.
Anyway, she lost the last election to a guy named Ivan. If you watched We Own This City, there's an actor that plays him. He had a role in bringing down GTTF, the subject of the show/novel. He tossed the Keith Davis case and reversed some other MM policies. Before MM leaves office, Nick passes something through city council somehow to thank MM for all her service and say how great she is. It was weird. So, now MM's federal perjury trial approaches. Her lawyers are trying all sorts of crazy things to get the case tossed or moved somewhere else. It's not working. She files a motion saying she's too poor to pay for experts and the judge agrees that the government will pay for them upfront. She has to pay back some of the costs, we dont know how much. One of her lawyers says some dumb shit on the courthouse steps after the judge told him not to and is being charged with criminal contempt. Now the lawyers, all of them, say they can't represent her. The one who is about to be charged with contempt says he'll be too distracted to be effective. The others basically say they were all just supportive people, not there to try the case. MM gets a reprieve and is told she is poor enough to qualify for the representation of the public defenders office. Nick is still city council president.

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dickpickdan t1_j66ieae wrote

Only part you forgot is that right after the go fund me, it came out that Nthe Mosbys had a lien for unpaid taxes to the IRS in the sum of some $20-40k. I believe that Nick also withdrew from his retirement, and he and Marilyn file together - she signed the tax return and claimed that she didn’t know about the lien. This is important because when she bought the vacation HOMES (plural) she attested that she had no liens. This was also fraud (or perjury). She also attested that the home would be a primary residence, which was also a lie, because she was trying to rent them out or some shit.

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whatsapotato7 t1_j66q6hk wrote

Yes, accurate. It's a true Baltimore soap opera with those two.

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TakeCareBeWell t1_j698z3k wrote

Thanks for that additional context. Terrible business, all around. gif

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sllewgh t1_j68zif7 wrote

Important correction- Gregg Bernstein was not "pretty good at his job but unable to connect", he was a total piece of shit whose handling of the police murder of Tyrone West directly set the stage for the 2015 uprising in reaction to the murder of Freddie Gray. Mosby's election and her defeat of the incumbent SA needs to be understood in that context. It helps explain the views of her supporters, who see her (right or wrong) as standing up to BPD and those who protect their bad behavior.

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TakeCareBeWell t1_j698syp wrote

Thank you for that comprehensive reply. It cleared up my understanding of this murky situation. It saddens me though, because this egregious lack of integrity is most certainly not what I expected to countenance when I voted for them to their respective offices. gif

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BJJBean t1_j64eyyr wrote

She did some perjury as well as lying about taxes, etc to get money from her retirement account early*. She then used this money to buy housing in Florida and was later caught lying so she is being federally indicted.

After that, she lost re-lection (Finished third in a three man race). Before she was forced out of office, she was given a victory tour by her husband in the city council to celebrate her "outstanding service."

She is now preparing for her trial which has been delayed several times. Her entire legal team is trying to get out of the trial with the main lawyer saying he will not be able to defend her since he has to defend himself as well. The prosecution team is agitated and working to force them all to stay on her team so the trial can go forward on the scheduled time.

Edit: I missed the most recent news. Judge allowed her entire team to bail due to conflict of interest. This article gives a much more detailed timeline than my post, you should read that.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/marilyn-mosby-defense-attorneys-withdraw/42687988

Edit 2: Wasn't COVID bailout money, she just used COVID as an excuse to get other money.

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Ms_Cranky_Pants t1_j64r4oo wrote

Good summary, I would add that she was responsible for trying one man four times due to a seemingly personal vendetta, and also in an effort to protect the police, who shot him. She was even held in contempt at one point for violating a gag order related to the case, ultimately spending extra money to prosecute and incarcerate him, while mismanaging her office. He was just released on 1/13/23, by the new States Attorney. There have been concerns about corruption, disguising source of campaign donations, (for her and her husband) misuse of campaign funds, etc…I heard the she won one case on Judge Judy one time tho…

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FriedScrapple t1_j64yzer wrote

She also used victims of police violence’s families, like Tyrone West’s, as props in her campaign, then once she was elected never lifted a finger to hold those cops accountable and quit taking family members’ calls.

The police in the Freddie Gray case were never held accountable, because she charged them so stupidly. And we never got that video footage from Mondawmin, where many people from the scene say the rioting actually began by cops penning in and taunting high school students.

Once she was in, after her show trials, she gave up entirely on trying to hold cops accountable.

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hogsucker t1_j65x09z wrote

I don't understand why cops don't absolutely LOVE her. She quashed the Freddie Gray uprising by claiming she was going to prosecute the men who killed him, then made sure they weren't convicted. Now the Baltimore police are on a permanent soft strike, they claim because they're afraid of accountability. They really should be grateful to her.

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FriedScrapple t1_j6602e7 wrote

Incompetence makes everybody’s life harder. She didn’t do them any favors because she was trying to do them favors, she was just bad at her job.

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hogsucker t1_j66ac6c wrote

You're probably right. I guess I shouldn't assume malice and not incompetence. It's just unbelievable that anyone could be that incompetent.

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FriedScrapple t1_j66by8u wrote

Anyone competent would’ve had an accountant deal with the IRS immediately, and taken their accountant’s advice on how to buy condos in a legitimate way, which she could have done if she’d handled her business right in the first place. If she’d had sense and a little humility she would have been fine. But she didn’t want to be bothered with details, or to do the work, she just wanted the praise and the things.

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planetarylaw t1_j65x0j0 wrote

Her only real opinion of the police is that it's a fun Halloween costume, I guess: https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/ygqkt4/soontobeformer_states_attorney_marilyn_mosby_and/

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FriedScrapple t1_j65zoj2 wrote

In her mind she’s like Megan Thee Stallion strutting around being a bad bitch, doesn’t get that you’re only a bad bitch if you’re actually competent at life. Otherwise you’re just a shallow idiot with good hair.

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sxswnxnw t1_j64uhiw wrote

I do not think this is accurate.

It wasn't covid bail out money: she allegedly made illegal withdrawals from her retirement account because she allegedly lied about being financially needy in order to make the withdrawals.

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BJJBean t1_j64v4qm wrote

My mistake.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/marilyn-mosby-indicted-baltimore/36901609

"Mosby claimed to have experienced financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to withdraw from the city's Deferred Compensation Plan on two separate occasions, receiving $40,000 and $50,000.

But documents show she continued to receive her full salary during the pandemic, which was a gross salary in 2020 of $247,955.58 and it was never reduced: "Rather than experiencing a reduction in income in 2020, Mosby's gross salary in 2020 increased over her gross salary in 2019, which was $238,772.04," the indictment states."

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warda8825 t1_j688ppe wrote

"Financially needy" and making $200,000+ a year. Okay, sure, after taxes she obviously wouldn't see all of it, but she was probably pocketing at least 100K of it, maybe a tad more. What an insult to people in/around the city actually struggling and attempting to make ends meet on under 30K/year. Sheesh.

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PigtownDesign t1_j65yp55 wrote

And now she has been declared indigent and so gets a federal public defender. This is so insulting to people who really are indigent. I guess she transferred all of her assets to Nick (bad idea).

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FriedScrapple t1_j660k3i wrote

It means she doesn’t get to delay any more, so there’s that.

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megalomike t1_j652apc wrote

sorry, but there is no ELI5 for this situation. her and her husbands behavior in their respective legal matters is completely unexplainable with any publicly known fact pattern or motive. they have something else going on and until that is known there is just this stochastic abuse of the public trust.

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FriedScrapple t1_j662u8f wrote

Is it really unexplainable, or are they just huge idiots? Any non-idiots would have gotten an accountant to deal with their financial issues properly the first day the IRS came knocking. They could’ve afforded a second condo legitimately, why did they feel the need to buy two, so urgently that they’d lie about Covid hardship and fake Nick’s dead dad’s signature on documents for like $5,000?

Nick was elected and he was young and full of energy, seemed promising. She was an unknown and got in with his name recognition. And then they both got way, way out of their depths, in terms of basic how-the-world-works experience and sense.

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frolicndetour t1_j66fj23 wrote

I think there was arrogance, too. Like they are above petty laws and they can do what they want without consequences. It's common with corruption. Pugh and Dixon (and for example Trump on a national level) had the same attitude, like they did what they wanted and how dare you question my actions.

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FriedScrapple t1_j66ixo4 wrote

Which is so silly, especially with a Republican governor looking for any excuse to point to Baltimore city as too corrupt to be deserving of any help. Remember the Ehrlich days when Rod Rosenstein busted Ed Norris’s panty fund? Good times.

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DemonDeke t1_j69s03v wrote

Are you saying the old Republican gov was looking for a way to take down Ed Norris?

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FriedScrapple t1_j69zp8s wrote

Who knows, but that fund Ed had been using had been dipped into by other police chiefs for miscellaneous purchases pre-Ed for a while. One option might’ve been “hey, why did you buy panties with that fund? Even if other guys did it it’s not for that, quit it and pay it back.” Another is to call the FBI. Another is to not even probe smaller expenses in the first place. I’m not saying Ed was wrong, and maybe he was given the option to pay it back and said no, I don’t know. Ed thinks it was political, but of course consider the source.

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Difficult-Buddy1205 t1_j67kqgx wrote

Can you expand the Ed Norris panty fund thing. I only know him as a radio personality and callers will call in and ask him to save Baltimore and I don’t get it. He’s a former cop?

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TerranceBaggz t1_j68dhip wrote

He was the former chief of police. He was sent to prison IIRC. Now he goes around claiming it was a witch hunt. He and his bs is why I don’t listen to 105.7 anymore.

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FriedScrapple t1_j68h0yy wrote

Former chief of police who was spending a city police fund on underthings for his mistress at Victoria’s Secret. Was busted by the FBI prosecuted by a young Rod J Rosenstein (who went on to Trump WH fame, and to become a traitor to this country. But back then he prosecuted more corrupt cops than anyone before or since).

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ElectricStar87 t1_j66dhm9 wrote

Honestly I think you’re spot on.

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FriedScrapple t1_j66hksb wrote

My impression is she’s a mean-girl narcissist who always got by on her looks but thinks she earned it. I say narcissist because instead of friends she has fans and followers. She refuses to admit when she is wrong, ever (even when the IRS is like, “hey, this is wrong”) is convinced she’s the smartest person in the room always, obsessed with her image, no empathy for others. I’m sure many many people told her, hey, get an accountant. Hey, we’re lawyers, here’s some charges you could put on the Freddie Gray cops that would stick instead of goofy shit like kidnapping. If she was willing to take advice, she would have been able to wing it even with scant experience, but she would not.

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planetarylaw t1_j65w5vn wrote

Well I thought I understood at least partially what was going on but now I just don't know...

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EmotionalVictory9717 t1_j692svl wrote

As someone who moved to Baltimore recently, this was very helpful, this whole situation is very confusing for someone just coming into it lol.

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DreSledge t1_j68gwjs wrote

Ok, yes. All all all politicians are self-serving assholes; also, who fucking cares if you don’t pay taxes or “steal from the government”.

All “the government” does is steal from us so who gives a shit. Why do people think politicians are supposed to be some white knight? They’re often the dirtiest ones. Them AND LAWYERS.

These people are in court every day. You think your hired suit isn’t rubbing shoulders with the one defending who you’re suing? They. Are. All. In. Bed. Together.

Wake up.

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sxswnxnw t1_j64u50z wrote

Sigh. You lazy and messy as hell for this:

She is a former civil servant who caught a federal case: Allegedly she committed mortgage fraud and/or perjury about some property she bought in Florida during the early covid years, when the rules to withdraw funds from certain retirement accounts were relaxed for people who could swear they were experiencing financial hardship. This happened during her tenure as Baltimore City SA.

She is married to a person who was a city council person, then a state legislative rep for Baltimore, and then became the head of that council, which could be perceived as a conflict of interest, since his heading the city council overlapped with her service as Baltimore City SA.

She ran against her old boss and won. Kept getting re-elected until she didn't last year. Now she is a private citizen in federal court.

That's pretty much it.

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[deleted] t1_j64dt3r wrote

[removed]

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baltinerdist OP t1_j64fkf2 wrote

Do you know how reddit works? People ask questions all the time that are solved with a Google search, but we bring them here for the discussion, the context, the story.

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addctd2badideas t1_j64hc61 wrote

I know exactly how reddit works, but for someone whose screen name is "Baltnerdist," to not even have basic knowledge of Mosby (hell, both Mosbys), I find it to be obnoxious.

Maybe instead, you Google a bit, get your basic facts lined up and ask questions, like, "How the hell did it take this long for them to get charged?" or, "Why/how do they keep getting elected?" (Which are coincidentally questions I think a lot of us still have.)

It has absolutely nothing to do with how reddit works. It's more about how you chose to post. And if folks disagree with me, then fine. But that's my take.

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FriedScrapple t1_j64zdmb wrote

I, for one, appreciate any and every opportunity to bring up what a shite SA she was, and how proud I am of this city for sending her packing.

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addctd2badideas t1_j650o4m wrote

I'm proud folks finally sent her packing as well.

I'm not proud it took this long and it was only AFTER charges were filed against her.

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