A federal judge declined to delay the corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) by two months, keeping the previously scheduled timeline on track.
Menendez, who is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, had hoped to move jury selection for his trial from May to July. The trial for Menendez, his wife, and three New Jersey businessmen will begin on May 5, federal Judge Sidney Stein ordered.
Menendez’s defense team said that it needed extra time because of the “unprecedented foreign-agent charge against a sitting Senator” and due to the 6.7 million documents that will be used in the case. The judge rejected this argument, saying that federal prosecutors had told Menendez’s lawyers what to expect, according to the Associated Press.
“The fact that discovery has been voluminous is consistent with the parties’ stated expectations on October 2 and does not justify a two month adjournment of the schedule,” Stein said. “In fact, the volume of discovery material is less than defendants were concerned it was when they sought the [two month delay] on December 20.”
Menendez faces charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
The indictment says that Menendez and his wife had a corrupt relationship with New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, who allegedly gave the senator bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the DOJ, the bribes were intended to protect the businessmen and to benefit Egypt.
“Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” the indictment said. Federal authorities reportedly found gold bars and cash stuffed throughout the senator’s home that they traced back to the businessmen Menendez allegedly worked with.
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Menendez is also accused of ghost writing a letter to other senators to urge them to support to end a hold on $300 million in military aid to Egypt, a letter that was reportedly written in coordination with his wife and the businessmen in question.
Other aspects of the indictment focus in on Menendez’s involvement with IS EG Halal, a business that prosecutors say was used to funnel bribery payments and one of the businessman’s alleged payments for a Mercedes Benz used by Nadine Menendez.
Menendez, his wife, and the three business men have all pleaded not guilty to the charges they face. He has faced calls from some Democrats like Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) to step down.