Overview
- Michel was sentenced on Nov. 20 to 168 months after a Washington jury convicted him in a political influence case tied to Malaysian financier Jho Low and the 1MDB scheme.
- The new motion says jurors were improperly influenced by the court’s repeated references to Michel as a co-conspirator and by FBI Agent Robert Heuchling’s overview testimony opining on guilt.
- His legal team contends prosecutors stretched statutes, challenging bank-fraud and campaign-finance counts and arguing no bank funds were at risk in the alleged false-statements theory.
- The filing alleges ineffective assistance by former lawyer David Kenner, citing failures to object to damaging testimony and concessions during closing arguments.
- Michel remains free with a surrender date of Jan. 27, 2026, and he asks the court to grant bail or postpone reporting until the D.C. Circuit considers his appeal.