It’s the Hillary Clinton defense!
A lawyer for the NYPD cop who allegedly engaged in mile-high group sex with a hooker paid for by a shady businessman said his client is no more guilty than the former secretary of state, who was cleared by the feds.
“It’s similar to what the FBI said about Hillary Clinton and why she wasn’t charged,” said John Meringolo, a lawyer for James Grant, who pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court Wednesday morning.
“She was unaware she was committing a crime. Here there is no crime whatsoever.”
Meringolo described his client’s alleged conduct, swapping police favors for expensive gifts, as mere violations of police conduct.
“There’s been similar conduct with private jets in the past,” he said, pointing to Commissioner Ray Kelly, who he said “took a private jet” and then paid the cost after the fact in order to hush criticisms.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Michael Harrington and Brooklyn businessman Jeremy Reichberg also pleaded not guilty to several charges on Wednesday, including conspiracy to commit honest-services fraud, honest-services wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive bribes, and the payment and receipt of bribes.
Harrington and Grant now face as much as 40 years in prison.
Reichberg, who faces a potential 55 years in prison, has been accused of shelling out large sums of cash with his business associate, Jona Rechnitz, to police officials.
In exchange for the gifts, Reichberg and Rechnitz received “a private police force for themselves and their friends,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said in an indictment.
Grant, Harrington and Reichberg were arrested last month following a sweeping 3½-year corruption investigation that has rocked the NYPD and reached as far as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, which is being probed over its fundraising.
Prosecutors said Grant accepted a private jet trip to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, costing $57,000 for the plane alone. During the trip, Grant allegedly had sex with ex-hooker Gabi Grecko, who donned a skimpy flight attendant outfit for the Vegas-bound plane ride.
