A man named Pras Michel was just sentenced to 14 years in prison for funneling millions of illegal foreign campaign dollars into Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Prosecutors had recommended life in prison for Michel because he had basically committed treason against the United States. This wild story illustrates just how much influence foreign donors wield over American politicians whose last name isn’t “Trump.”
Pras Michel is one of the founding members of a rap group called The Fugees. They’re kind of a big deal. They’ve won Grammy Awards and stuff. You know… The Fugees? Okay, we admit it. We had never heard of The Fugees, either.
This story actually began all the way back in 2009 in Malaysia. A guy named Jho Low was placed in charge of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB. Jho Low proceeded to loot $4.5 billion from the fund and then skedaddled to Communist China. It was one of the largest single corruption scandals in world history at the time.
Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States all issued warrants for Jho Low’s arrest. Interpol put out a Red Notice on him, so if he shows up at any airport anywhere in the world, he’ll be immediately arrested. The only countries in the world where it’s safe for him to hang out are Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and Communist China.
Once he’d made a successful getaway with the loot, Jho Low immediately set out to disprove the old adage that “there are some things money can’t buy” (including a Democrat President!).
Despite being an international fugitive, he started throwing lavish parties and paying Hollywood celebrities to attend them. He’s been photographed with people like Paris Hilton, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jamie Foxx. He dated Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr for a couple of months and gave her $8 million worth of jewelry (Kerr was forced to surrender the jewels to the US government later).
One of the celebrities who partied with Jho Low was Pras Michel of The Fugees. They struck a deal, and Michel agreed to manage $120 million of the stolen Malaysian funds to buy stuff that Jho Low wanted.
Jho Low wanted to finance a major Hollywood movie, for example. Michel helped facilitate a portion of the stolen funds to pay for The Wolf of Wall Street, which was directed by Martin Scorcese and released in 2013. Leonardo DiCaprio ended up testifying against Michel in the trial. And in fairness to DiCaprio, he had no idea that the funds had been stolen from the people of Malaysia.
But there was one thing that Jho Low wanted more than anything else in the world. He wanted Barack Obama to pose for a private photograph with him.
So, Jho Low is obviously a closeted gay man. It’s hard to believe that he thought he actually had a shot with Obama. I mean, Barack is a married man, amiright?
Nevertheless, Jho Low instructed Pras Michel to funnel up to $20 million in illegal campaign contributions to Barack Obama in 2012, through a series of straw donors. Which Pras Michel did.
Amazingly, after Obama left office, Michel went to the White House and tried to lobby the Trump administration in 2017 to drop the case against Jho Low. The Trump DOJ responded by placing Pras Michel under investigation and indicting him in 2019.
Michel was charged with conspiracy, witness tampering, failing to register as a foreign agent, money laundering, and a host of other crimes. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions came out of his retirement to testify against Michel.
So, you can see a bit of a contrast in the governing styles of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Obama illegally took stolen money from retirees and investors in Malaysia to help himself win reelection. The Trump administration has thrown Michel in federal prison for 14 years and clawed back $64 million in unspent funds which were given back to Malaysia. Plus, the $8 million in jewelry from the Victoria’s Secret model.
Jho Low is still hiding out in Communist China today, as far as anyone knows. Xi Jinping refuses to extradite him. Someone should make a movie about this story! Just be careful about where the money to finance it comes from.