Lori Loughlin's claims in her motion to dismiss the college bribery case have been denied by the U.S. Attorney. The 55-year-old actress' lawyers filed the motion last month, and on Wednesday, the prosecuting attorney replied with a lengthy response.
According to the motion, and a subsequent memo supporting the dismissal motion, Loughlin's lawyers alleged that prosecutors acted inappropriately in regards to one of their main witnesses -- bribery scam ring-leader Rick Singer -- and that they tried to conceal exculpatory evidence.
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In the court documents obtained by ET on Wednesday, the government claims there is no basis for the dismissal request.
“The defendants’ core allegations of misconduct are premised on a straw man: that this case is only about bribery. It is not," the response reads. “The defendants are charged with conspiring to engage in a single, sweeping scheme to gain admission for their children to college by, among other things, lying about their academic and athletic qualifications so that complicit coaches, induced by bribes styled as 'donations' to their programs, could purport to recruit them as elite athletes.”
The response goes on to note, "Just because neither [scam ring leader Rick] Singer nor the defendants actually used the word 'bribe' to describe the purported donations doesn’t mean that they were legitimate."
Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella, admitted to the University of Southern California as recruits for the crew team, though neither woman had ever participated in the sport. Both Giannulli and Loughlin have pleaded not guilty to all charges leveled against them, claiming their payments were donations to the school and not bribes.
In the latest court docs, the U.S. Attorney is also alleging that Giannulli falsely claimed to a high school counselor that his daughter was a rower.
As for Loughlin and Giannulli's attorneys alleging that prosecutors tried to conceal exculpatory evidence, the prosecutors said this was "simply an error," adding that the government has since disclosed the evidence months ahead of the couple's October trial.
For more on the upcoming court case, watch the clip below:
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Lori Loughlin's Attorneys File Motion to Dismiss College Bribery Case Over 'Government Misconduct'