International Courant
A federal decide in New York declined to dismiss bribery prices towards Senator Bob Menendez, ruling that his conduct isn’t protected by the character of his job as a United States senator or as a former chairman of the Committee on International Relations .
“(The Court docket finds) that not one of the allegations at difficulty involving the U.S. lawyer system or the Egyptian assist program are protected by the Speech or Debate Clause,” Decide Sidney Stein wrote Thursday.
Menendez sought to dismiss the fees, which included conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit sincere companies fraud, conspiracy to commit racketeering below colour of official proper, and conspiracy for a authorities official to behave as a international agent .
The decide mentioned none of those prices must be dismissed primarily based on the U.S. Structure’s protections for members of Congress, and not one of the prices must be dismissed.
The senator and his spouse, Nadine Menendez, face extra obstruction prices that weren’t a part of Thursday’s order. The couple and different defendants pleaded not responsible to all prices in a complete of 4 counts.
They may stand trial in Could.
