Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

After 24 years in office, Florida Representative Corrine Brown (D-FL) recently lost her congressional seat.

Her loss comes after being indicted on 22 federal charges including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax violations. Despite the allegations, the congresswoman says she’s innocent.

Rep. Brown and her attorney, James Smith, III, spoke with Roland Martin about the allegations being levied against her, which claim she and her Chief of Staff established a “sham charity” to access $800,000 for personal use.

Brown said U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley has damaged her name, calling the allegations bogus and racist. She continued to lambast the claims and said they were “done prior to the August 30th election” to keep her from winning reelection.

Brown believes the charges were issued for political reasons. She told Martin, “You know for a fact the first step was to change the district, put 25 prisons in the district,” and the second step in securing her ouster was the corruption charge issued prior to the election.

Congresswoman Brown will appear in court for a series of status hearings in October. If the case goes to trial, Attorney James Smith, III explained the legal proceedings will probably not take place until February of 2017.

He reiterated the embattled congresswoman’s claim of innocence and said, “Let me just be very clear, my client has emphatically and will emphatically continue to deny the charges.”

Smith implored those who may consider whether or not she is guilty of the scathing charges to look at Representative Brown’s record and reminded viewers of her “decades of good faithful service at the state, local, and federal level on the behalf of her constituents.”

Rep. Brown denies being connected with the individual who established the unregistered charity she is being accused of using as her “own personal slush fund.”

Brown forcefully said on NewsOne Now she has “absolutely no relationship whatsoever” to the woman who allegedly set up the questionable charity.

Later during their conversation, Congresswoman Brown said the following of the charges: “It is a bunch of bull.”

Watch Roland Martin, Rep. Corrine Brown, and her attorney James Smith, III discuss the allegations being made against the congresswoman in the video clip above.

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

Watch NewsOne Now with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

SEE ALSO:

GOP Redistricting Plot To Unseat Rep. Corrine Brown Exposed