New York — His lawyers announced Thursday that New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will not appeal a judge's Constitutional finding that would have delayed his May trial.
The Democrat's lawyers wrote to the Manhattan federal judge who will preside over the May 6 trial that the senator's decision was “principally motivated by his desire to proceed to trial and establish his innocence without further delay.” After authorities found gold bars and cash at his New Jersey residence, he pleaded not guilty to corruption allegations.
He and his wife received gold and cash as bribes for favors Menendez did for three New Jersey businesses, according to prosecutors. Judge Sidney H. Stein concluded this month that several warrants used to search the Democrat's email accounts and house in 2022 were legally sought and executed.
Menendez challenged the warrants under Constitutional grounds that authorized him to appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before trial. The senator's lawyers said the warrants were “riddled with material misrepresentation and omissions that deceived the authorizing magistrate judge.”
Stein denied any warrant omissions were deliberate or relevant for June 2022 home searches that yielded over $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash. Much of the gold and cash was stashed in closets, clothing, and a safe, prosecutors said.
Menendez, 70, said the house cash was his emergency funds. Menendez resigned as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman after his fall arrest, but he would not quit from Congress.
Besides Menendez, his wife Nadine and two businessmen have pleaded not guilty. An agreement with prosecutors requires a third businessman to testify at trial after pleading guilty.
According to an indictment, Menendez and his wife got gold bars and cash from a real estate developer in exchange for the senator using his influence to win the businessman a multimillion-dollar Qatari investment fund transaction. Menendez was also accused of assisting a New Jersey business associate land a lucrative Egyptian government agreement.
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