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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

☆ Menendez Pleads Not Guilty to Plotting to Be an Agent of Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Tracey Tully | More About Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey pleaded not guilty on Monday to a new federal charge that accused him of illegally plotting to be an agent of Egypt while serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It was Mr. Menendez’s second not-guilty plea in a month after he and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were accused of being at the center of a broad web of political corruption. The couple has been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for Mr. Menendez’s efforts to increase aid and weapons sales to Egypt while also working to quash criminal investigations for associates in New Jersey. The bribery-related charges were first announced last month by federal prosecutors in Manhattan; a revised indictment, made public on Oct. 12, included the new charge of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government. Ms. Menendez, 56, pleaded not guilty to the new conspiracy charge last week, but Mr. Menendez was granted permission to appear on Monday, instead, so that he could be present in Washington for legislative business.

Persons: Robert Menendez, Menendez’s, Nadine Menendez, Menendez Organizations: Robert Menendez of New, Senate Foreign Relations Locations: Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Egypt, New Jersey, Manhattan, Washington

The United States Justice Department began an investigation on Tuesday into the city of Trenton, N.J., and its police department after getting “serious and credible” reports of officers using improper levels of force and illegally stopping and searching pedestrians and drivers. The inquiry into New Jersey’s capital city and its police force is expected to take a year and could lead to federal oversight of the department through a consent decree. The review will include on-the-job observation of police officers, interviews with residents and an analysis of police records, including footage from body-worn cameras and internal affairs investigations, officials said. Since 2021, the Justice Department has opened similar inquiries into 10 other police agencies across the country, said Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general with the department’s civil rights division.

Persons: Kristen Clarke Organizations: United States Justice Department, Justice Department Locations: Trenton , N.J, New

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicIn one of the most serious political corruption cases in recent history, federal prosecutors have accused a senior U.S. senator of trading the power of his position for cash, gifts and gold. Tracey Tully, who covers New Jersey for The Times, tells the story behind the charges against the senator, Robert Menendez, and his wife, Nadine, and describes the role played by Wael Hana, an Egyptian American businessman at the center of the allegations.

Persons: Tracey Tully, Robert Menendez, Nadine, Wael Hana Organizations: Spotify, The Times Locations: U.S, New Jersey, Egyptian American

☆ Menendez, Defiant, Says He Will Not Resign
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Tracey Tully | More About Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, returned Monday to Union City, the community where he rose to political prominence, to offer a clear answer to former allies who have called for his resignation in the face of federal bribery charges: No. “The allegations leveled against me are just that — allegations,” Mr. Menendez said at a news conference at a community college not far from where he grew up, the child of Cuban immigrants. “I recognize that this will be the biggest fight yet,” he said, adding that once the judicial process concluded, he expected that “not only will I be exonerated, I will still be New Jersey’s senior senator.”Standing behind the senator, against a wall, were roughly two dozen people he called “everyday people and constituents who know me.”

Persons: Robert Menendez, ” Mr, Menendez, “, ” Organizations: Democrat, Union Locations: New Jersey, Union City

☆ ‘Gold’: A Word Rarely Mentioned in Menendez’s Senate Disclosure Forms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Tracey Tully | More About Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The reporting lapses that federal prosecutors in Manhattan noted on his Senate financial disclosure forms might seem to pale in comparison. But they could also suggest an effort to hide his newfound wealth to evade notice by the Senate’s Select Committee on Ethics. “Knowingly and willfully filing a false personal financial disclosure report can result in a civil penalty of up to $50,000,” Brett Kappel, a Washington-based lawyer and expert in campaign finance, lobbying and government ethics, said in an email. “It may also be prosecuted as a violation of the False Statements Act — a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.”The first mention of gold on Mr. Menendez’s financial disclosure report came in March 2022, on a report amended to indicate that in 2020 his wife owned as much as $250,000 in bullion. The alteration made it appear that Ms. Menendez had possessed the gold since before or soon after the couple married in October 2020.

Persons: Menendez, “, ”, ” Brett Kappel Locations: Egypt, Manhattan, Washington

☆ These Are the Key Players in the Case Against Senator Menendez
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Tracey Tully | More About Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He now lives in Bergen County with his wife of three years, Nadine Menendez. They met years ago at one of his favorite haunts, an IHOP in Union City, a city he has represented as mayor and in the State Legislature and the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate. Mr. Menendez has been preparing to run for a fourth Senate term, and there are no indications that the indictment will change that plan. As a young man, he wore a bulletproof vest into federal court to testify against a onetime mentor, William V. Musto, then the mayor of Union City. Mr. Musto was convicted of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from a contractor hired to build schools.

Persons: Nadine Menendez, Menendez, William V, Musto, Chris Christie Organizations: State Legislature, Senate, Foreign, Justice Department Locations: Bergen County, Union City, U.S, New Jersey

☆ In War on Congestion Pricing, Governor Turns to Courts and Trash Talk
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Tracey Tully | More About Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A U.S. senator accused New York of orchestrating a “shakedown” of New Jersey commuters. A Democratic congressman implied that the fall from grace of New York’s former governor Andrew Cuomo was karmic payback for his support for the new tolls, known as congestion pricing. Another accused the head of North America’s largest mass transit system of giving children cancer. The gloves are off in a long-simmering border war between New York and New Jersey. And this latest battle has given rise to a curious new set of allies and enemies, allegations of hypocrisy and vivid trash talk — a situation that may grow only more intense as the start of congestion pricing nears, possibly in May next year.

Persons: Philip D, Murphy, Andrew Cuomo, Mr, — Organizations: New, Biden, Democratic Locations: New Jersey, New, Midtown Manhattan, U.S, York, New York

☆ Sheila Oliver, New Jersey’s Trailblazing Lieutenant Governor, Has Died
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Tracey Tully | More About Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sheila Y. Oliver, New Jersey’s lieutenant governor and the first Black woman to hold statewide elected office there, died on Tuesday after being rushed to the hospital the day before. Ms. Oliver, a Democrat and longtime resident of East Orange, N.J., was elected lieutenant governor in 2017 as Gov. In 2010, she became the first Black woman to lead the predominantly male State Assembly. Ms. Oliver had been serving as acting governor of New Jersey since Mr. Murphy and his family left over the weekend for a vacation in Italy, where they own a home. Mr. Murphy will return to New Jersey within the next few days, a spokesman said.

Persons: Sheila Y, Oliver, New, Philip D, Murphy, Nick Scutari Organizations: Democrat Locations: East Orange, N.J, New Jersey, Italy

☆ A Senator’s New Wife and Her Old Friends Draw Prosecutors’ Attention
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Tracey Tully | More About Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But their whirlwind romance has taken a sudden dark turn. Mr. Menendez, the 69-year-old Democratic chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, is under investigation by the Justice Department for the second time in less than a decade. And this time, his wife is also in prosecutors’ cross hairs. Unlike her husband, who took a seat on a New Jersey school board as a 20-year-old and rose to prominence in Hudson County’s famously sharp-elbowed political scrum, Ms. Menendez, 56, has lived a mainly private life. She is described by friends, acquaintances and two former lawyers in much the same way: social, smart and highly fashion-conscious.

Persons: Menendez, Ms, Hudson County’s Organizations: Foreign Relations, Justice Department, U.S, New York University Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey, New, Bergen County, N.J

☆ Paralyzed by a Police Bullet, He Describes a Life Forever Changed
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A police officer, Jerry Moravek, came racing down the sidewalk toward the same noise. Their paths crossed, footage from a police body camera shows, and Officer Moravek pivoted to begin chasing Mr. Cooper, convinced that he was holding a gun. Months later, Officer Moravek would be charged with aggravated assault for his decision to fire his weapon, without warning, toward a man who was running away. But that is largely beside the point to Mr. Cooper. Mr. Cooper had had past run-ins with the police, and he had been released from prison less than two years earlier after serving time for weapons and drug convictions.

Persons: Jerry Moravek, Moravek, Cooper, general’s, ’ ” Organizations: Paterson Police Department

☆ Judge Investigated Over His Profane TikTok Videos
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For two years, a judge in New Jersey used a pseudonym to post TikTok videos of himself lip-syncing lyrics from popular rap songs. In some, he was wearing judicial robes or shown walking through a courthouse, according to the state’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Others included explicit references to violence, sex and misogyny. On Monday, the court system said it had filed a complaint against the Superior Court judge, Gary N. Wilcox, who will now face a hearing that could lead to discipline ranging from a reprimand to dismissal from the bench. The complaint argues that Judge Wilcox’s decision to post the TikTok videos showed “poor judgment and demonstrated disrespect for the judiciary and an inability to conform to the high standards of conduct expected of judges.”

Persons: Gary N, Wilcox, Wilcox’s, ” Organizations: Judicial, Superior Court Locations: New Jersey, state’s

Bad air can be dangerous, especially if you’re breathing it over a lifetime. In East Asia, years of chronic air pollution is one reason that wearing face masks was common well before the coronavirus pandemic. School children there are used to playing inside on bad air days. In South Korea, would-be presidents have made reducing air pollution part of their campaign platforms. In other cases, urban air has improved because of something that no one saw coming.

Persons: it’s, Paiboon, Rajasekhar Balasubramanian, ”, Lee Hyung, “ It’s Organizations: New York State, World Health Organization, National University of Singapore, World Bank, Mexico City Locations: Midwest, United States, Cities, Asia, Africa, America, New, Bangkok, South Asia, East Asia, Seoul, South Korea, China, Beijing, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Mexico, New Delhi

☆ Can Christie Succeed as ‘Trump Slayer’? New Jersey Has Thoughts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Any race that pits Mr. Christie against Mr. Trump is bound to be especially personal. Mr. Trump seemed to find joy in belittling Mr. Christie from the White House; Mr. Christie blamed Mr. Trump for giving him a bout of Covid that left him gravely ill and hospitalized. In interviews with New Jersey voters, Mr. Christie’s assets and liabilities were repeatedly described as two sides of the same coin. And to Trump loyalists who might prefer that Mr. Christie retreat permanently to his beach house in Bay Head, it was much the same refrain: He is not Mr. Trump. After dropping out of the 2016 presidential contest, Mr. Christie became one of Mr. Trump’s biggest boosters.

Persons: Christie, Mr, Trump, “, ” David Philips, ” Mr, Philips Organizations: New, Democrats, Trump Locations: New Jersey, Bay, Trenton

☆ The District Gained Republicans. Could a Liberal Democrat Take It Back?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last year, redistricting shored up the odds of victory for the incumbent party in 11 of New Jersey’s 12 congressional districts. With a year and a half before the election, it is likely that additional Democratic challengers to Mr. Kean will emerge. But Ms. Altman’s early entry and name recognition gives her a clear edge in a race that even the state’s Democratic Party chairman, LeRoy J. Jones Jr., acknowledges will be an uphill fight. “Sue Altman is a formidable candidate — and so far the only candidate,” Mr. Jones said. “Without hearing from anyone else, Sue is in a position to make her case to ultimately be the Democratic nominee.”

Persons: Tom Malinowski, Tom Kean Jr, Malinowski, Kevin McCarthy’s, Mr, Kean, Donald J, Altman’s, LeRoy J, Jones, “ Sue Altman, ” Mr, Sue, ” Organizations: New, Seventh Congressional District, Republican, Democratic Congressional, Trump, Democratic, state’s Democratic Party Locations: New Jersey, Washington

☆ New Jersey’s Senators Push Back on Congestion Pricing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ana Ley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Many transit advocates, community leaders and urban planning experts in New York have celebrated the progress made toward congestion pricing this month, saying it was long overdue. The loudest opposition to the program has come from New Jersey. Mr. Murphy on Monday also unveiled an advertising campaign criticizing the program, complete with billboards near interstate crossings. Other opponents of congestion pricing have included taxi drivers and Lyft and Uber drivers, who worry that fare increases triggered by the tolls could slash demand for taxis and for-hire rides by up to 17 percent. says the program, which would affect drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, could begin as soon as spring 2024.

☆ N.Y. Congestion Pricing Plan Moves a Step Closer to Reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Ana Ley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Vehicles carrying people with disabilities and authorized emergency vehicles would be exempt from the tolls. will literally pilfer out of the pockets of Jersey families will go to the M.T.A.”Other critics include taxi drivers, as well as Lyft and Uber drivers. Manhattan residents who live north of the tolling zone have said they fear that motorists, to skirt the new charge, will cluster in their neighborhoods. To the disappointment of those who oppose the plan altogether, protests will most likely not stop transportation officials from moving ahead, though officials have made tweaks to ease concerns. What’s NextOpponents have threatened legal action if the plan continues to advance.

☆ After Student’s Suicide, an Elite School Says It Fell ‘Tragically Short’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last April, Jack Reid, a 17-year-old junior at one of the nation’s elite boarding schools, tucked a Bible into his gym shorts and a note into his pocket directing his parents to a Google document explaining his feelings of despair. Then, inside his dorm room, he took his own life. On Sunday, the anniversary of Jack’s death, the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey offered an extraordinary admission of failure, publicly acknowledging that it had been aware that Jack was being bullied by other students, but that it had fallen “tragically short” of its obligation to protect him. “The school acknowledges that bullying and unkind behavior, and actions taken or not taken by the school, likely contributed to Jack’s death,” Lawrenceville officials wrote in a statement posted Sunday morning on the school’s website. The school committed to taking a series of corrective actions including endowing a new dean’s position that will be focused on mental health issues, with a goal of becoming a model for anti-bullying and student mental health.

☆ Jail Guards Charged in Death of Detainee Who Was Forcibly Restrained
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After being handcuffed by the police, Mario Terruso Jr. was hallucinating, complaining of extreme nausea, and appeared to be high on drugs. But the New Jersey officers instead brought him directly to jail, concerned about getting bogged down on a Sunday shift awaiting a lengthy medical evaluation, according to an investigation by the state attorney general’s office. Thirteen hours later, after being forcibly restrained in jail, Mr. Terruso, 41, was dead. On Monday, a grand jury took the unusual step of handing up indictments against eight officers involved in the 2019 arrest and the subsequent restraint of Mr. Terruso inside Atlantic County’s jail. Eric Tornblom and Mark Jenigen, both correction officers at the jail, are charged with manslaughter.

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