NEW YORK: Grammy-winning rapper Pras Michel told jurors Tuesday at his illegal-lobbying trial that the party-boy Malaysian tycoon Jho Low - once a friend and now a fugitive - paid him US$20mil (RM88.6mil) to get a photo with President Barack Obama in 2012.
told jurors Tuesday at his illegal-lobbying trial that the party-boy Malaysian tycoon Jho Low - once a friend and now a fugitive - paid him US$20mil to get a photo with President Barack Obama in 2012.
"I basically asked for $1mil to begin to think about how I would get this photo,” Michel said as he lawyer questioned him."I was going to try.” Michel said he never made any donations on behalf of Low and didn’t believe the political donations were illegal. But on cross examination, prosecutor John Keller got Michel to admit the money came from Low, and that the rapper reimbursed his friends for the political donations they made to support Obama.
"My understanding is that the campaign thought he was too hot,” Michel said."They didn’t want the optics at that time. At that point, Jho Low was a party guy - Vegas, champagne, parties with Paris Hilton. The campaign just didn’t want that.”
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