DAY NINETEEN AND A QUARTER
Jurors will get at least two days off from U.S. Senator Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Phil Sellinger, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, was due to continue his testimony today; he’ll return as soon as Daibes is ready to come back to court, perhaps as early as Monday.
DAYS SINCE THE INDICTMENT: 264
DAYS SINCE MENENDEZ’S LAST CRIMINAL TRIAL ENDED: 2,399
MISSED VOTES: 29
Bob Menendez missed two votes on Thursday, including the confirmation of a member of the Federal Regulatory Commission and the rejection of cloture on a bill to expand access to fertility treatments and IVF. The last vote was at 1:54 PM.
And in case you’re keeping track: it’s been 43 Years and 41 Days since a United States Senator from New Jersey was last convicted of accepting a bribe.
HE HAD A NOTE FROM JUAN EPSTEIN’S MOTHER
— What Happens When a Defendant Gets Covid-19 During Trial? From New York Times’ Tracey Tulley and Benjamin Weiser: “The trial of Senator Robert Menendez was paused on Thursday after the judge announced that one of the senator’s co-defendants, Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer, had tested positive for Covid-19. The judge, Sidney H. Stein, said it was ‘the expectation and the hope of the court’ that the trial could resume Monday, given revised federal Covid guidelines and depending on how quickly Mr. Daibes begins to recover … ‘I don’t think we have much choice,’ Judge Stein said Thursday morning. ‘I cannot proceed without a defendant being present.’”
* Menendez corruption trial briefly suspended due to developer’s illness
* 5 takeaways from bombshell testimony in Bob Menendez’s corruption trial
SENATOR ON TRIAL: DAY ONE | DAY TWO | DAY THREE | DAY FOUR | DAY FIVE | DAY SIX | DAY SEVEN | DAY EIGHT | DAY NINE | DAY TEN | DAY ELEVEN | DAY TWELVE | DAY THIRTEEN | DAY FOURTEEN | DAY FIFTEEN | DAY SIXTEEN| DAY SEVENTEEN| DAY EIGHTEEN | DAY NINETEEN