DOJ rejects Senator Menendez’s latest attempt to delay his bribery and corruption trial

Sen. Bob Menendez's (D-New Jersey) scheduled May 2024 trial will continue on as scheduled after his latest attempt to postpone it until next July failed.

On Tuesday, prosecutors with the Department of Justice rebuffed arguments from Menendez's legal team that the delay was necessary because the discovery process — which involves obtaining evidence from phone records, hard drives and the like — would be overly complicated due to the "volume and timing of the government’s disclosures, and the significant motion practice ahead." According to The Messenger, those arguments didn't pass muster with the DOJ.

"The schedule was and remains reasonable, and in accord with the strong public interest in a speedy trial," the DOJ's Tuesday filing read. "Nothing in the defendants' request for an adjournment, made more than two months after the schedule was set, justifies a material deviation from this considered schedule."

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"The government has taken great pains to organize the discovery and to assist counsel's review of it," prosecutors added.

Both Menendez and his wife are facing charges of corruption and bribery in federal court, after a search of the couple's house yielded evidence of possible corruption. During the September raid, federal agents found gold bars, roughly $500,000 in cash, a luxury vehicle and evidence of both home mortgage payments and compensation for a low-show or no-show job.

Both Menendez and his wife Nadine are accused of both accepting bribes from and acting as unregistered agents on behalf of the Egyptian government. Prosecutors have also indicted New Jersey-based businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes. Despite the indictments, Menendez — who still has access to classified US intelligence as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — has maintained his innocence and has so far not resigned. He has also not stated whether he will run for another six-year term in 2024.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) is Menendez's loudest critic in the Senate, referring to his colleague as the "senator from Egypt." He continues to call for Menendez's resignation and for the Senate to expel the New Jersey senator should he continue to stay in office.

READ MORE: Watch: Fetterman says Santos expulsion should prompt removal of 'much more sinister' Menendez