Menendez pleads with judge to recess corruption trial for major Senate votes
By RYAN HUTCHINS
08/24/2017 08:18 PM EDT
With numerous high-stakes votes approaching in Congress, lawyers for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) are pleading with a federal judge to recess the Democrat’s impending corruption trial on days he is needed in Washington.
The lawyers, who were unable to convince U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls of their arguments during a hearing in New Jersey earlier this week, say in a new motion that the senator’s absence from the Capitol could imperil votes to raise the debt ceiling and to avoid a government shutdown.
The situation is creating a “clash of values,” the senator’s lawyers say, that could force Menendez to make an unfair choice: Set aside his right to confront his accusers so he can make it to Washington for big votes, or shirk his constitutional obligations to the people who elected him so he can sit through the full trial.
more
http://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/08/24/menendez-pleads-with-judge-to-recess-corruption-trial-for-major-senate-votes-114139
