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Vince McMahon's lawyer was wrong to apply for the documents, court rules requested by the Grand Jury

By Dave Collins Associated Press

A former lawyer for the Pro-Wrestling Impresario Vince McMahon was wrong to hold back some of the federal jury's large jury when he examined how the former WWE boss with two employees who accused him of sexual abuse, with several million dollar settlement contracts.

Three judges on the 2nd US Court of Appeal in New York confirmed a judgment of the Lower Court, according to which the documents are not protected by the privileges of the lawyer client due to an exception to “crime or fraud”.

The Court of Appeal said that the judge of the lower court said that the prosecutors had reasonable reasons to believe that McMahon and his lawyer have illegally “avoided” the internal controls of the WWE when they hid the claims and comparison agreements of the employees, and that they have paid false and misleading explanations in the auditors – MCMAH.

The appeal committee said that McMahon's lawyer submitted many materials in response to a underground of the Grand Jury, but also submitted a protocol of 208 documents that were held back by claims by the lawyer-client privileges.

Although the identity of the parties was not announced in the appeal of the Court of Appeal, a person who was familiar with the matter confirmed the unnamed “former Chief Executive Officer of a” publicly traded company “, McMahon. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss details that were not published.

The status of investigating the Grand Jury was not immediately clear. The US law firm in Manhattan has refused to comment on a statement than was asked about the examination that has not been publicly announced.

Representatives of McMahon, who contested misconduct, said they had no immediate statement on the court ruling. McMahon previously proposed that it was no longer being examined.

In January, McMahon said in an explanation that “almost three years of investigation by various government agencies” came into his actions. The explanation came when the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had accused McMahon because he had not disclosed the comparison agreements with the two suitable employees to WWE officials.

“Ultimately, there were never anything more than smaller accounting errors in relation to some personal payments that I was a WWE CEO a few years ago,” the explanation said. “I am thrilled that I can put it all behind me now.”

In the decision on Monday, however, the Court of Appeal said that the case “concerns the procedure for the big jury. No charges were currently issued. “

The statement announced some new details from the Grand Jury probe.

Representative of one of the former employees who received a comparison agreement from McMahon, Janel Grant, rejected a comment on Monday.

McMahon resigned from the parent company of the WWE in January 2024, after Grant had submitted a federal action in which he and another former executive of the serious sexual misconduct were accused. At that time, McMahon resigned from his position as Executive Chair of the Board of Director of the parent company of the WWE, TKO Group Holdings. After submitting the lawsuit, he continued to reject misconduct.

McMahon resigned in 2022 as a CEO of WWE, while a company investigation into allegations that correspond to the complaints in society were examined.

Grant said she was put under pressure to leave her job at the WWE and sign a pay contract of $ 3 million. In the lawsuit, in the sexual battery and trade, the agreement should be declared invalid. McMahon violated the deal by giving her $ 1 million and not paying the rest.

The agreement of 3 million US dollars will be mentioned in the appellate court on Monday with another 7.5 million dollar settlement that McMahon has made with another former employee.

The Associated Press usually calls people who have allegations of sexual assault, unless they publicly register what Grant did.

The public prosecutors served prayers from the lawyer of McMahon, who is unnamed in court documents in September 2023, and, according to the appellate court, applied for all communications between McMahon, his lawyer and the law firm to the two former employees. The lawyer helped McMahon to negotiate the settlements, said the court.

When the lawyer retained some of the documents in which a lawyer-mandant privilege was claimed, the public prosecutor asked the subject to enforce the production of the records on Monday.

The appeal judges wrote: “Because the comparative agreements that had resolved the claims of the victims were” structured and negotiated in order to fail to fail to be (the company) “, the district court stated that” all communications about the claims and comparison agreements to promote the criminal system (the company) and its auditors, who were not aware of, were made. “

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The Associated Press Writer Eric Tucker in Washington, DC, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.