by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 28 – Amid reports of investigation against Sen. Robert Menendez for taking gold bars from former Mariner's Bank executive Fred Daibes , Inner City Press' sources on September 21 it to expect on Friday, September 22 an appearance in Federal court in Manhattan by Menendez and presumably his wife Nadine Arslanian. This scoop was true.
On September 26, with more and more Democratic Senators calling on Menendez to resign, his Egypt connection Wael Hana was arraigned. He was arrested at JFK Airport, flying in. Inner City Press live tweeted, thread.
On September 27, Menendez himself was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. He was released on $100,000 bond with restrictions on communications with (some) Senate staffers. His wife Nadine, the bond was $250,000.
More on Substack here.
On October 17, Wael Hana wrote in to ask that his GPS be removed as painful, emphasizing his wife's interview with the U.S. Consulate in Cairo and his voluntary return.
On October 18, Hana's bid to have GPS removed was denied. Inner City Press was there, thread
On October 23, in a (very) short proceeding, Menendez pleaded not guilty. Inner City Press live tweeted, thread here
On November 13, Judge Stein extended Hana's curfew to 9 pm, Inner City Press live tweeted
On December 20, Menendez' lawyers wrote in that they want the trial delayed at least two months to July 2024, and previewed that Menendez will be filing a partial motion to dismiss based on the Speech and Debate Clause "which may well result in an interlocutory appeal" - so, more delay. Full letter on Patreon here.
On December 26, the US Attorney's Office filed opposition to any delay, stating among other things that "As the defendants acknowledge in their letter of yesterday (Dkt. 110), the initial 735-terabyte figure they provided for the volume of discovery was erroneous... the defendants’ other assertions regarding the amount of time they allegedly need—such as their desire to take unspecified investigative steps, their plan to file a challenge to the sufficiency of the indictment, their desire to mount a constitutional challenge to a federal criminal statute, and their plan to file suppression motions—are not unique to this case and do not justify a multiple month adjournment." Full letter on Patreon here.
On December 28, Judge Stein denied Menendez' request for delay, on those grounds.
More on Substack here
Watch this site
The case is US v. Menendez, et al., 23-cr-490 (Stein)
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
