DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Robert Menendez’s Trial Is Set to Begin, With a Sprawling Web of Charges
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Tracey Tully | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jury selection for Senator Robert Menendez’s corruption trial starts on Monday in a federal courthouse in Manhattan, a 20-mile drive from Mr. Menendez’s home in northern New Jersey, where for decades he has been a well-known Democratic political leader. His efforts to move the trial to his home turf failed. Jurors picked to decide the case will be from Manhattan, the Bronx or one of several New York counties north of the city. Mr. Menendez, 70, will be tried with two New Jersey businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. His wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, was also charged in the bribery scheme but will be tried separately, in July.

Persons: Robert Menendez’s, Menendez’s, Menendez, Fred Daibes, Wael Hana, Nadine Menendez Organizations: Democratic, Prosecutors, U.S, Southern, of Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey, Bronx, New York, of New York, Qatari, Jersey

☆ Who Are Key Players in the Menendez Case?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Tracey Tully | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Who Are Key Players in the Menendez Case? Mr. Menendez goes to trial on May 13 with two of the businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. Fred Daibes New Jersey Real Estate Developer Mr. Daibes is accused of giving Mr. Menendez furniture, gold and cash. Nadine Menendez Mr. Menendez’s Wife Ms. Menendez served as a go-between for Mr. Menendez, Egyptian intelligence officials and men who were seeking political favors from the senator, according to the indictment. Defense LawyersAdam Fee Lawyer for Robert Menendez He previously spent five years as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District — the same office prosecuting Mr. Menendez.

Persons: Menendez, Robert Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Mr, Fred Daibes, Wael Hana, Menendez's, Daibes, Nadine Menendez Mr, Menendez’s, Ms, Jose Uribe, Uribe, Uribe's, Sidney H, Stein, Bill Clinton, Jennifer Shah, Hassan Nemazee, Damian Williams, Williams, President Biden, Sam Bankman, Fried, Juan Orlando Hernández, Christina Clark, Clark, Charles McGonigal, Catherine Ghosh, Eli Mark, Paul Monteleoni, Robert Hadden, Lara Pomerantz, Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, Norman Seabrook, Daniel Richenthal, Sheldon Silver, Michael Avenatti, Adam Fee, Fee, Avi Weitzman, Lawrence Lustberg Organizations: Democrat, Robert Menendez New Jersey, Senate Foreign Relations, Jersey Real, EG, Prosecutors, United, Jose Uribe Former New, Benz, U.S, Southern, of, Democratic, Attorney, Southern District of, ex, Public, New, New York City Housing Authority, Justice Department, Southern District’s, New York State Assembly, Nike . Defense, Southern District Locations: New Jersey, Manhattan, Jersey, Egypt, Qatar, United States, Jose Uribe Former New Jersey, of New York, Southern District, Southern District of New York, Russian, New York City, Brooklyn, Columbia, New York, U.S, California

They also argued that having the doctor testify appeared to be an effort by Mr. Menendez to present alleged facts before the jury without subjecting himself to cross-examination by testifying himself. He will be tried with two New Jersey businessmen who also were accused of participating in the bribery conspiracy. The senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, was charged as well but granted a separate trial, in July, after her lawyers said she had a serious medical condition that would require surgery and an extended period of recovery. The indictment, which runs 66 pages, outlines a variety of schemes. But perhaps nothing has caught the public eye as much as its descriptions of the cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz convertible found during a June 2022 search of the senator’s home in Edgewood Cliffs, N.J.

Persons: Menendez, Judge Stein, Rosenbaum, Nadine Menendez Organizations: Democrat, Foreign Relations, Benz Locations: New Jersey, Egypt, Qatar, Jersey, Edgewood Cliffs, N.J

☆ Stacks of Cash at Menendez Home Were Not From His Bank, Prosecutors Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Tracey Tully | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When Senator Robert Menendez was charged last year with corruption after investigators found $486,000 in cash stashed around his house in New Jersey, he offered a simple, “old-fashioned” explanation: It had been his custom to withdraw cash from a personal savings account to keep at home, a habit he learned from his Cuban immigrant parents. But federal prosecutors, in papers filed late Friday, presented fresh details that they suggested undercut Mr. Menendez’s claim. Some of the cash was wrapped in bands showing it had been withdrawn, at least $10,000 at a time, from a bank where Mr. Menendez and his wife “had no known depository account.” This, prosecutors said, indicated “that the money had been provided to them by another person.”

Persons: Robert Menendez, Menendez’s, Menendez, “, ” Locations: New Jersey

A Manhattan judge refused on Thursday to dismiss bribery and other charges against Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey on the grounds that they violate constitutional protections afforded to members of Congress. The ruling does not address other grounds that Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, has cited in asking that the charges against him, which are still pending before the judge, be dismissed. Mr. Menendez could file an appeal of the ruling, which could end up delaying his trial for months. It currently is scheduled to begin on May 6. Lawyers for Mr. Menendez had asked the judge, Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court, to throw out the charges, arguing that overzealous prosecutors were criminalizing the normal activity of legislators and flouting the protections given to members of Congress under what is known as the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause.

Persons: Robert Menendez, Menendez, Sidney H, Stein Organizations: Manhattan, Robert Menendez of New, Democrat, Federal, Court Locations: Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey

Three days after Donald J. Trump posted a $91.6 million bond in the defamation case he lost recently to the writer E. Jean Carroll, her lawyer on Monday suggested she was considering filing yet another defamation lawsuit against the former president. The lawyer raised the prospect of a new lawsuit after Mr. Trump in recent days repeatedly lashed out at Ms. Carroll, using the same kind of disparaging language that led to the huge judgment against him in January. “The statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years,” Roberta A. Kaplan, Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, said in a statement Monday morning. “As we said after the last jury verdict, we continue to monitor every statement that Donald Trump makes about our client.”In a separate court filing, Ms. Kaplan told the federal judge overseeing the case that she and Mr. Trump’s lawyers had reached an agreement on the details of his proposed $91.6 million bond. The bond — provided by Federal Insurance Company, an arm of the insurance giant Chubb — will prevent Ms. Carroll from collecting her multi-million-dollar judgment while Mr. Trump appeals the defamation verdict.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll, Carroll, ” Roberta A, Kaplan, Donald Trump, Chubb Organizations: Federal Insurance Company

☆ Trump Posts $91.6 Million Bond for Defamation Judgment in Carroll Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | Ben Protess | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Donald J. Trump on Friday posted a $91.6 million bond in a defamation case he recently lost to the writer E. Jean Carroll, staving off a potential legal and financial disaster just days before a deadline to secure the deal. The bond, provided by an outside insurance company, will prevent Ms. Carroll from collecting the judgment while Mr. Trump appeals. A federal jury awarded Ms. Carroll $83.3 million in January, and Mr. Trump recently asked that the judgment be paused. The judge presiding over the case, Lewis A. Kaplan, denied Mr. Trump’s request for a preliminary reprieve, putting pressure on Mr. Trump to either come up with the money himself or secure the bond. With a Monday deadline looming, Mr. Trump posted the bond, which is higher than the $83.3 million judgment because the former president is also responsible for interest.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll, staving, Carroll, Lewis A, Kaplan, Trump’s

☆ Robert Menendez and Wife Are Charged With Obstruction of Justice
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | More About Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The new charges against the Menendezes appear related to information that was provided to the government by Mr. Uribe, who in court on Friday described meeting with Ms. Menendez at a Marriott Hotel after receiving a subpoena in the case. Mr. Uribe said in court that Ms. Menendez had wanted to get their stories straight about a Mercedes-Benz convertible he had given her as a bribe. “She asked what was I going to say if somebody asked me about the car payments,” Mr. Uribe said. In the new charges, prosecutors say that Mr. and Ms. Menendez paid Mr. Uribe back for the payments he had made on the Mercedes and falsely referred to that money as a “loan” in conversations with their lawyers, deliberately mischaracterizing the transaction. As a result, the indictment charges, Mr. Menendez in June “caused his then counsel to make false and misleading statements to the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.” Two months later, Ms. Menendez did the same.

Persons: Uribe, Menendez, “, Mr Organizations: Marriott, Benz, Mercedes, Southern, of Locations: United States, of New York

☆ Menendez Ally Pleads Guilty in Bribery Case and Agrees to Cooperate
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Tracey Tully | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Jose Uribe, a former New Jersey insurance broker charged in what prosecutors have described as a broad bribery scheme involving Senator Robert Menendez, pleaded guilty on Friday in Manhattan. Mr. Uribe had been accused of providing Nadine Menendez, the senator’s wife, with a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for Mr. Menendez’s efforts to intercede in an insurance fraud investigation in New Jersey. As part of his guilty plea, Mr. Uribe also agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors in their investigation, according to a formal plea agreement signed by Mr. Uribe, his lawyer and prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Uribe is expected to “truthfully and completely disclose all information with respect to the activities of himself and others concerning all matters about which this office inquires of him,” the agreement states.

Persons: Jose Uribe, Robert Menendez, Uribe, Nadine Menendez Organizations: Benz, Southern, of Locations: New Jersey, Manhattan, U.S, of New York

☆ What to Know About Trump’s Cash as He Faces Penalties of $537 Million
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Susanne Craig | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The former president, who has lost two recent civil cases, is under pressure to find enough cash to stave off enormous asset seizures while he appeals judgments against him totaling at least $537 million. One, $454 million, was imposed by a New York State judge last month in Mr. Trump’s civil fraud trial. The other, $83.3 million, was awarded in January by a federal jury in a defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. They offered a New York appeals court a bond of only $100 million while he appeals. Mr. Trump’s lawyers said that to secure the full $454 million set by Justice Arthur F. Engoron, he would probably need to sell properties.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll, Alina Habba, Habba, Arthur F Organizations: New, New York State Locations: New York, York

☆ Carroll Promises to Do ‘Something Good’ With a Fortune Won From Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As soon as E. Jean Carroll heard the verdict on Friday — $83.3 million in defamation damages against Donald J. Trump — a world of possibility opened before her: How to use the money? The amount vastly eclipsed the $5 million awarded to her by a jury last spring in a different trial against Mr. Trump. It could take years before she sees the money, as Mr. Trump has said he will appeal, but she is already considering how she might use the money once she obtains it. “We’re going to do something good with it.”Figuring that out will take some time, she added. Ms. Carroll, appearing relaxed and happy in her lawyers’ offices on Saturday, spoke in her first interview since the Manhattan jury’s award in her favor a day earlier.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, “ I’m, ”, “ We’re, —, Carroll Organizations: Mr, Manhattan

Judge Kaplan said jurors should be identified only by number and even suggested they not share their actual names with one other. People were asked whether they had ever contributed money or supported a political campaign for Mr. Trump, Mr. Obama, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. “Have any of you ever read any books by Mr. Trump?” the judge asked. “Would that affect your ability to be fair to both sides in this case?” Judge Kaplan asked. “I want to stipulate that I am on the left,” Ms. Carroll remarked drolly.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, Lewis A, Kaplan, Carroll, Trump’s, —, Rosanna Garcia, “, Judge Kaplan, Ms, jockeyed, Alina Habba, Michael M, ”, Barack Obama, Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, “ I’ve, ’, ” Ms, drolly, Kate Christobek Organizations: E, Trump, Vijilent Inc, Facebook, Carroll, Elle, CNN, Getty, Mr, New, New York City Transit Authority Locations: Manhattan, Massachusetts, U.S, New York, Westchester, New York City, Bronx, Westchester County

His testimony, after days of anticipation, lasted less than five minutes. “Defense calls President Donald Trump,” Alina Habba, his lead lawyer, told the court. She asked the former president whether he stood by his remarks in a deposition in which he had called Ms. Carroll a liar. “One hundred percent, yes,” Mr. Trump said. Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, had written to the judge, saying Trump might see a political benefit “from intentionally turning this trial into a circus.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll’s, Donald Trump, ” Alina Habba, Carroll, Mr, “, Lewis A, Kaplan, Roberta A, ” Organizations: “ Defense

☆ In Trump’s Defamation Trial, the Nine Most Important People Are Enigmas
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Maria Cramer | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Attorneys for E. Jean Carroll and Donald J. Trump, pitted against each other in a civil defamation trial in Manhattan, know little about the nine people considering her claim for millions of dollars in damages against the former president. So, their lawyers have been left making pitches to those nine, the jurors, about whom they have only the barest scraps of information, working on hunches and instincts to persuade people who by design are not knowable. The judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, ordered that the jurors remain anonymous as they considered how much Mr. Trump should pay for saying Ms. Carroll lied when she accused him of sexual abuse, for which he has already been found liable. Judge Kaplan said jurors should be identified only by number and even suggested they not share their actual names with one other. In a pretrial ruling, he explained his rationale, citing the potential for influence attempts, harassment or worse by Mr. Trump’s supporters — or the former president himself.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, Lewis A, Kaplan, Carroll, Trump’s, — Organizations: E Locations: Manhattan

“The thing you’ve got to do primarily is set rules and enforce them,” said John S. Martin Jr., a former U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan. In Ms. Carroll’s defamation trial, Mr. Trump seemed almost to be goading Judge Kaplan into throwing him out of the courtroom. After his two recent confrontations with the judges, Mr. Trump held news conferences before cheering supporters in the lobby of his building at 40 Wall Street. Ms. Carroll’s defamation trial is being heard by a nine-person jury in Federal District Court, with Judge Kaplan overseeing the proceedings. During his diatribe, Mr. Trump refrained from attacking any staff members.

Persons: Arthur Engoron, Donald Trump, Donald J, Arthur F, Trump, Mr, ”, Jean Carroll, Judge Lewis A, Kaplan, Ms, you’ve, John S, Martin Jr, “, ” Mr, Carroll’s, Letitia James, Kaplan “, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Trump’s, Engoron’s, Judge Kaplan, Carroll, Jefferson Siegel, The New York Times Judge Kaplan, Bill Clinton, Sam Bankman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama, Laden, Katherine B, Forrest, Judge Kaplan’s, Michael B, Mukasey, Justice Engoron, Art Garfunkel, —, James, Christopher M, Kise, Engoron, Kate Christobek, Olivia Bensimon, Kirsten Noyes Organizations: Trump, Getty, Court, The New York Times, Mr, New York Times Locations: New York, York, U.S, Manhattan, New Hampshire, Trump’s Manhattan

☆ Question of Trump’s Testimony Hangs Over Carroll’s Defamation Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With a Manhattan jury soon to decide how much money, if any, Donald J. Trump must pay the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 when she first accused him of a decades-old rape in a department store dressing room, the question of whether Mr. Trump will testify still looms as the trial resumes Monday. Mr. Trump said Sunday he would be in court, and the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, is likely to ask him directly whether he will take the stand. Mr. Trump, 77, has suggested that he wanted to testify in the civil trial, which is beginning its second week, and in court filings, Mr. Trump’s and Ms. Carroll’s lawyers have been debating the parameters of what the former president should be allowed to mention. Last week, Mr. Trump alternated appearances at the trial with trips to New Hampshire. The state holds its presidential primary Tuesday, and Mr. Trump has been seeking the Republican nomination with rallies this weekend in Concord, Manchester and Rochester.

Persons: Donald J, Jean Carroll, defaming, Trump, Lewis A, Kaplan, Trump’s Organizations: Trump, Republican Locations: New Hampshire, Concord , Manchester, Rochester

☆ As Trump Treats Trials Like Rallies, Judges Study How to Rein Him In
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald J. Trump doesn’t change. The judges’ different approaches to the tempestuous storm that entered their courtrooms — and the different results — could offer lessons beyond the two New York cases. They may provide guidance for the judges set to oversee Mr. Trump’s four potential criminal trials, who will want to keep the 45th president from transforming his legal proceedings into political spectacles. “The thing you’ve got to do primarily is set rules and enforce them,” said John S. Martin Jr., a former U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan. “I think if the judge is tough and doesn’t back down, Trump will back down.”

Persons: Donald J, Arthur F, Trump, Mr, ”, Jean Carroll, Judge Lewis A, Kaplan, Ms, you’ve, John S, Martin Jr, “ Organizations: Trump Locations: New York, York, U.S, Manhattan

During a break after Ms. Carroll had spent the morning testifying about what happened after she accused Mr. Trump of raping her, one of her lawyers complained, out of the jury’s presence, that Mr. Trump had been overheard speaking at the defense table. He said “witch hunt” and “it was a con job,” loudly enough that jurors could hear, said Shawn Crowley, one of Ms. Carroll’s lawyers. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who had sparred all morning with Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, over her objections to Ms. Carroll’s testimony, appeared to be losing his patience. Trump has a right to be present here,” Judge Kaplan said. “That right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me, and if he disregards court orders.”

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, Carroll, ”, Shawn Crowley, Judge Lewis A, Kaplan, Trump’s, Alina Habba, Carroll’s, “ Mr, ” Judge Kaplan

☆ What to Know as Trump Faces Another Defamation Trial by E. Jean Carroll
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Trump is planning to attend the first day of the trial before he heads to New Hampshire to campaign ahead of the presidential primary there next week. Ms. Carroll, 80, has said she encountered Mr. Trump in the mid-1990s at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan, where he shoved her against a dressing room wall and forced himself on her. Mr. Trump, 77, has loudly denied the allegations ever since Ms. Carroll first leveled them more than four years ago. The civil trial focuses on statements by Mr. Trump in June 2019 after Ms. Carroll revealed her allegation in New York magazine. Mr. Trump called her claim “totally false,” saying that he had never met Ms. Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, and that she had invented a story to sell a book.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll, defaming, Carroll, Goodman Organizations: New York, Elle Locations: Manhattan, New Hampshire, New, Iowa, New York

A Manhattan jury will be asked a narrow question this week: How much money must former President Donald J. Trump pay the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she accused him of raping her? Ms. Carroll’s chance encounter decades ago at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, in which she said Mr. Trump shoved her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her, was already the focus of a trial last year. At the time, Mr. Trump called her claim “totally false,” saying that he had never met Ms. Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, and that she invented a story to sell a book. Now, Mr. Trump says he wants to attend and testify at Ms. Carroll’s trial, something he didn’t do in the earlier case. That’s sparked a bitter dispute between lawyers for Ms. Carroll, 80, and Mr. Trump, 77, over what the former president could say if he took the stand, and whether he would stray beyond strict boundaries the judge has set.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll, defaming, Carroll’s, Goodman, Carroll, Trump’s, ” Organizations: Elle Locations: Manhattan, New York

☆ Nadine Menendez Wants Separate Trials for Herself and Her Husband
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Senator Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were both charged last fall in a broad federal corruption case, in which they were accused of accepting cash and gold bribes. Now their marriage is at the center of a new dispute in the case, according to legal papers filed late Monday. Ms. Menendez is asking a Manhattan judge to sever her case from that of her husband. In her request, she said that she understood Senator Menendez might wish to testify at his trial, “and that his testimony could include revealing confidential marital communications with Ms. Menendez that Senator Menendez deems essential and material to his defense.”Ms. Menendez wants to maintain the confidentiality of her communications with her husband, her lawyers wrote to the judge, Sidney H. Stein, of Federal District Court.

Persons: Robert Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Ms, Menendez, ” Ms, Sidney H, Stein Organizations: New, New Jersey Democrat, Court Locations: New Jersey, Manhattan, Federal

What to watch for in Tuesday’s inflation numberThe markets have rebounded from their fall swoon — with the S&P 500 up more than 7 percent over the past two weeks — as investors grow more optimistic that the Fed is done raising interest rates. That conviction will be put to the test with a new batch of inflation data this week, starting with Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. It arrives amid deep divisions on Wall Street over the Fed’s next move, and as inflation weighs heavily on President Biden’s poll numbers. Tuesday’s figure could signal that progress on inflation is slowing. That’s no better than the September figure, and well above the Fed’s 2 percent target.

Persons: Biden’s Organizations: Tuesday’s, Wall, Deutsche Bank

☆ Jurors in Trump Defamation Trial to Go Unnamed for Their Own Protection
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | More About Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Separately, the jury did not find Mr. Trump had raped Ms. Carroll, but held Mr. Trump liable for sexually abusing her in the department store dressing room, awarding her $2.02 million in damages. Mr. Trump has appealed the jury’s verdict. Mr. Trump, the judge noted at the time, had made sharply critical statements about the forewoman of a special grand jury in Atlanta; Mr. Trump has since been indicted there. Judge Kaplan also cited Mr. Trump’s repeated statements about Ms. Carroll and the court in her case and other cases against him. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Persons: Carroll, Trump, ”, Judge Kaplan, Carroll’s, Trump’s Organizations: Mr, Washington , D.C Locations: Atlanta, New York, Georgia, New York State, Washington ,, Florida

Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey had a problem — and, prosecutors say, an opportunity. And as New Jersey’s senior senator, Mr. Menendez was in a position to help, by recommending the next leader of the office overseeing the case. In early 2021, Mr. Menendez urged President Biden to nominate a lawyer he knew well as the state’s next U.S. attorney: Esther Suarez, a politically connected prosecutor in his home county. When White House and Justice Department officials interviewed Ms. Suarez, they found her knowledge of federal law lacking, and they had substantial concerns about her qualifications, according to four people familiar with the sessions. Mr. Menendez pushed for Ms. Suarez to be given another chance, the people said.

Persons: Robert Menendez, Menendez, Biden, Esther Suarez, Suarez, Mr Organizations: Robert Menendez of New, White, Justice Locations: Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey

☆ Businessman Indicted With Menendez Is Arrested at Kennedy Airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | More About Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The senator, Ms. Menendez, Mr. Hana and two other businessmen were each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Mr. Menendez and his wife were also charged with conspiracy to commit extortion under the color of official right, meaning that they used the senator’s official position to force someone to give them something of value. Mr. Menendez has maintained his innocence, saying Friday that prosecutors “wrote these charges as they wanted; the facts are not as presented.” At a news conference on Monday, he said he had no intention of bowing to calls for his resignation. Mr. Menendez, his wife and the two other businessmen — Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer and fund-raiser for Mr. Menendez; and Jose Uribe, who works in trucking and insurance — are expected to be arraigned in Federal District Court on Wednesday morning. Mr. Hana was led into the courtroom wearing a light blue button-down shirt, navy blue slacks and black slip-on shoes with a design on top.

Persons: Menendez, “, Mr, — Fred Daibes, Jose Uribe, Ms, Hana, Lawrence J, Lustberg Organizations: Court, EG Locations: New Jersey, Egypt

Search resuls for: "Benjamin Weiser"

25 mentions found