In a recent development, — Bob Menendez, a senator from New Jersey, had his trial scheduled for May, but his attorneys announced Thursday that he will not be appealing a judge's decision on constitutional grounds.
Senator Democrat Bill "principally motivated by his desire to proceed to trial and establish his innocence without further delay," according to a letter sent by the senator's attorneys to the Manhattan federal court who will preside over the trial on May 6. After authorities found cash and gold bars at his New Jersey residence, they charged him with corruption; he has pled not guilty.
The prosecution claims that Menendez and his wife accepted bribes from three businesspeople in New Jersey in return for favors that Menendez performed for them, and that this is where the gold and cash came from. Judge Sidney H. Stein upheld the validity of the many warrants utilized to search the Democrat's residence and email accounts in 2022 earlier this month.
Menendez had challenged the warrants in accordance with constitutional provisions that would have enabled him to appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before a trial, had he so desired. Warrants were "riddled with material misrepresentation and omissions that deceived the authorizing magistrate judge," according to the senator's legal team
The searches of Stein's residence in June 2022 yielded over $480,000 in cash and over $100,000 in gold bars, but Stein insisted that any inaccuracies in the warrants were not deliberate or significant. Cleats, garments, and a safe were where the majority of the wealth, according to the prosecution, was stashed.
The 70-year-old Menendez claimed that the funds discovered in the property were his own reserves meant for unexpected expenses. Menendez stated he will not retire from Congress despite being forced to abandon his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee following his fall arrest.
Not only has Menendez pled not guilty, but so have his wife Nadine and two businessmen. An additional businessman is now cooperating with prosecutors by pledging guilty and agreeing to testify at trial.
An indictment states that a real estate developer offered Menendez and his wife cash and gold bars in exchange for the senator's influence in securing a multimillion-dollar contract for the developer with a Qatari investment fund. Additional charges against Menendez include his alleged role in facilitating a profitable contract between another New Jersey business colleague and the Egyptian government.
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