New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor is facing calls to investigate whether she provided Sen. Bob Menendez with alleged inside information about the man accused of bribing Democrats with gold bars.
The call was made in a complaint filed Tuesday with the Justice Department Inspector General — which oversees the conduct of federal prosecutors — by Thomas Anderson, founder of the watchdog group theblackdc.com.
Anderson has asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to determine whether New Jersey US Attorney Phillip Sellinger named the senator as a junior prosecutor handling the case against real estate developer Fred Daibes.
Daibes is accused by federal prosecutors of charging Menendez, 69, and second wife Nadine Arslanian, 56, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bullion and furniture in return for a Democratic senator trying to “disrupt” a federal fraud case against him — and doing Daibes a favor. another.
Calls for an investigation into Sellinger came after Menendez appeared in court in Manhattan Monday and pleaded not guilty to new charges of corruption, including acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.
New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, Philip Sellinger, recused himself from the investigation into Menendez’s benefactor, Fred Daibes, but provided the senators involved with information about who was handling the prosecution. Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
Sellinger, the most powerful federal prosecutor in New Jersey, was appointed in December 2021 by President Biden after a career in private practice.
He was also a major donor to Menendez, contributing $40,000 to his legal defense fund between 2014 and 2017, according to public documents. Menendez faced federal corruption charges in his first indictment in 2015. The case ended in a mistrial in 2017.
Sellinger’s office charged Daibes with 14 counts of bank fraud when he was appointed.
Sellinger was advised by the Justice Department to recuse himself from the case because of a conflict of interest stemming from his previous law practice, according to the indictment against Menendez.
New Jersey developer Fred Daibes is accused of giving Menendez and his wife gold bars and hundreds of thousands in cash after the senator called an assistant US attorney to intervene in his federal fraud case.AP
Shortly after Sellinger was confirmed by the Senate and took office, Menendez demanded to know who prosecuted the Daibes case, prosecutors said.
“On or about January 21, 2022, Menendez contacted Official-3 and asked for the identity of Official-3’s First Assistant US Attorney (‘Official-4’),” the federal indictment said. “As a result of Official-3’s refusal, Official-4 had the responsibility supervision over the prosecution of Daibes.”
Prosecutors allege that three days later, on January 24, Arslanian received a gold bar and thousands of cash in an envelope containing Daibes’ DNA and sent a message to Daibes: “Thank you. Christmas in January.”
That evening, Menendez called “Official-4” in a call that lasted about 15 seconds, according to prosecutors.
Federal authorities found nearly $500,000 in cash and gold bars during a search of Menendez’s home in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.AP
On Jan. 29, Menendez searched for “kilo gold price” on Google, then on Jan. 31, Menendez made another call to “Official-4” for “approximately one minute and 24 seconds,” the indictment says.
“Within minutes of his call with Official-4, Menendez called Daibes,” according to the indictment.
As of March 2022, Menendez asked an unidentified “advisor” to press the case with Sellinger, prosecutors said.
“Menendez told Counsel, overall, that he was disappointed with the way the US Attorney’s Office handled the Daibes prosecution and further told Counsel to tell Official-3 [Sellinger] to give Daibes ‘all due process,’ even so, Menendez knew, Official-3 was withdrawn from the matter,” the indictment said.
US Attorney’s Office
Daibes pleaded guilty to one charge in a plea deal next month, April 2022, but this October, the judge overseeing the case rejected the deal. Daibes has not made a new confession.
Now Sellinger faces calls for investigation in a complaint from Anderson to the Justice Department.
“It is clear the New Jersey Department of Justice and its officials have been under an intense campaign of pressure from one of the most powerful members of Congress,” Anderson, the government watchdog, said in the complaint.
Menendez made another appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Monday where he pleaded not guilty to revised charges against him, including being an undeclared agent of the Egyptian government.AP
“Due to the circumstances and events surrounding such a high-profile case, the Office of the Inspector General needs to open a broad and thorough investigation into every aspect of the corruption and foreign agent allegations related to Senator Menendez.”
Menendez, Arslanian, Daibes and New Jersey businessman Wael Hana have been indicted on charges of corruption and acting as foreign agents to benefit Egypt.
All four have pleaded not guilty to all charges and the senator has rejected calls from his own party to step down, saying he will fight the case and run for re-election.
A DOJ spokesman declined to comment. It has yet to respond to the complaint. An attorney for Menendez did not return a request for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
