The first day of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s bribery and extortion trial ended with an unsuccessful mistrial motion from his attorney, who argued that a prosecutor violated the judge’s rulings on the Speech or Debate Clause in her opening statement.
Adam Fee of Paul Hastings argued that Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz’s statement implicated Menendez’s official acts when she said his co-defendant Fred Daibes bribed him to act in support of Qatar, including by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country, and when she referenced a text from Menendez to his wife saying he would sign off on a sale of military items to Egypt.
