Secret details in Menendez court filings are released to the public
When Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted in September, prosecutors accused him of twice calling a senior federal law enforcement official in New Jersey in an effort to halt a criminal investigation involving an ally.
But the official had previously told authorities that he had no memory of ever discussing “particular cases” with the senator, according to a court document made public for the first time Friday.
The official's recollection is contained in a legal brief filed last month by Menendez's lawyers seeking dismissal of the indictment against the senator. Until now, that detail and other portions of the brief were redacted — hidden from public view — because they included material from the confidential government investigation.
Thursday, a Manhattan judge, at the request of The New York Times and two other news outlets, ordered some of those redactions removed, making it possible to get a fuller picture of the evidence Menendez's lawyers are citing to bolster their argument that the indictment against the senator should be dismissed. Lawyers for Menendez, DN.J., have argued that prosecutors manufactured “a narrative based on speculation, cherry-picking and innuendo” to charge the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with taking bribes in exchange for political favors. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial, which is scheduled to start in May.
The unsealed elements in the brief also shed new light on evidence that Menendez's lawyers argue undercuts the indictment's claim that, as part of the conspiracy, the senator used his power and influence to benefit the government of Egypt.
In their brief, for example, Menendez's lawyers argue that a “centerpiece of the indictment” was a State Department-sanctioned trip that the senator took in fall 2021 to Egypt, where he met with Egyptian officials. But the indictment, the lawyers write, “shockingly fails to disclose” a fact that shows Menendez was sometimes willing to take stands against Egypt.
According to the newly unsealed materials, investigators interviewed an unidentified person with apparent knowledge of what occurred at the meeting, who told them that Menendez “got into it a bit” with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi regarding human rights issues.
El-Sissi stated that Egypt would do better on human rights, the person told investigators, a document shows.
“The government never mentions these events in the indictment because they blow up the false narrative being forced on this court, the media and the American public,” Menendez's lawyers write. They argue that overzealous prosecutors are attempting to criminalize normal legislative activity and flouting constitutional protections that are afforded to members of Congress.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, declined to comment Friday. Prosecutors are expected to file their response to the defense brief Monday.
The government did not oppose the removal of certain redactions, but it asked the judge, Sidney H. Stein of U.S. District Court, to maintain the confidentiality of other materials, “particularly given that the government's investigation is ongoing,” the prosecutors wrote.