Ex-cop says: No sex bribe, I paid hooker
THE EX-NYPD cop accused of taking bribes from politically connected businessmen claims a hooker was no illicit gift to him — because he paid for her.
An attorney for former Deputy Inspector James Grant has asked a judge to bar the prostitute as a witness in the cop’s upcoming bribery trial in Manhattan Federal Court.
Lawyer John Meringolo filed a letter to Judge Gregory Woods on Tuesday saying that the feds list the woman as witness “prostitute-1” and plan to use her testimony to show Grant took bribes from his fellow defendant, Brooklyn businessman Jeremy Reichberg, and Manhattan realtor Jona Rechnitz.
But Meringolo says the call girl’s services didn’t constitute a bribe — because Grant ponied up for her services. To prove his point, the attorney cites testimony from Special Agent Joseph Downs and Rechnitz, a former Mayor de Blasio donor who has been acting as a cooperating witness.
Downs testified to a grand jury that Rechnitz covered the cost of a private jet to Las Vegas in 2013 and hotel accommodations, while Grant paid for the prostitute during the flight, Meringolo said. Likewise, Rechnitz testified during the bribery trial of ex-correction officers union boss Norman Seabrook that he didn't pay for the hooker.
“Prostitute-1, Mr. Rechnitz, and Agent Downs all corroborate the same assertion — that Mr. Grant personally paid prostitute-1 for her services during the Las Vegas Super Bowl trip,” Meringolo wrote. “By definition, Mr. Grant needs to have actually received a thing of value from his alleged bribers.”
Meringolo said the true reason prosecutors want the prostitute to testify is to make him look bad to jurors.
“The government’s insistence on calling prostitute-1 to testify cannot be interpreted as anything but a tactic to improperly prejudice Mr. Grant in the eyes of the jury,” Meringolo wrote.