NEWARK, NJ – New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is trying to put time on the clock in an attempt to push his federal corruption trial beyond the 2024 U.S. Senate primary election.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams is urging U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein to reject a request by Senator Robert Menendez’s defense team to postpone his corruption trial. The trial, set for May, involves charges against Menendez, the senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey, for acting as an unregistered foreign agent and accepting bribes, including gold bars.
Menendez’s legal team argues that the extensive amount of evidence of over six million documents, necessitates more time for review, particularly ahead of New Jersey’s U.S. Senate Primary. However, Williams contends that the current schedule is “expedited, but reasonable,” and that no substantial grounds justify altering it.
Prosecutors highlight their efforts to organize discovery materials and facilitate the defense’s review process. They also dismiss the defense’s additional reasons for delay, such as plans to challenge the indictment’s sufficiency, mounting constitutional challenges, and filing suppression motions, as not warranting a significant postponement.
The charges against Menendez, along with his wife Nadine, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, were initially brought in September.