a new superseding indictment against New Jersey senior senator Bob Mendez dropped late yesterday and it alleges he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for aiding the government of cutter and that bribery and Corruption scheme he was embroiled in continued into 2023 these latest allegations build on the federal government's case against Menendez filed last September and it comes after a judge denied mendez's request to postpone the trial until early July to make matters worse senior political correspondent David Cruz reports it's scheduled to begin May 6th a month before the June primary Senator Bob menendez's strategy to delay his corruption trial something a judge denied last week may want to take into consideration the steady drip drip of superseding indictments which make it impossible for Menendez to change the subject even though the filing didn't result in any new formal charges Brian Whistler who was an attorney with the justice department for 17 years says that's not really the point of this superseding indictment I think the purpose there from a legal standpoint is to reinforce what's already been alleged in in the original indictment tactically the purpose of a superseding indictment is often to leverage uh a pressure or a position against a defendant right so it's clear that thus far Senator menz Menendez through his uh Council has maintained his in innocence at least in the Public Square um and so prosecutors are often inclined to try to leverage uh their position by adding more charges or more color or both and I think that's that's what you're seeing the new indictment charges Menendez with working for the interests of the Qatari government which he allegedly hooked up with a DE developer SL codefendant in exchange for gold cash and alleged in this latest filing luxury watches the more that's put out there in The Ether about who this individual is in the eyes of the prosecutors I think the more the prosecutors believe will be helpful to their to their case the death of a Thousand Cuts yeah um as far as the public view here we go again right you know and and um just can't get out from under it and so yeah it it becomes um it becomes even more overwhelming um it just adds to the level of voter disgust and voter frustration and and and the public perception that this is just a very big case which of course it is the new filing also alleges that Menendez was carrying on in a corrupt fashion into 2023 well after it was known that the senator was under investigation again meanwhile as 2024 for Dawn the campaign to replace bendeez who still hasn't made his reelection plans known publicly will intensify Tammy Murphy posting yesterday in part one thing is crystal clear we need new representation and voices in Washington Andy Kim also condemned the new allegations as the latest example of a broken political system while Union and Community activist Patricia compos the latest to join the Democratic primary race just this morning says Menendez has been a successful Senator but can no longer do the job under the circumstances he was a leader for so many key issues for us but at this point we need effective leadership and he is no longer an effective representative for New Jersey and that is why we need to have a real primary election in which New Jersey voters get to choose who they think is the most effective representative for their concerns the Senator's attorne attorney called the latest allegations distorted and desperate saying the prosecution has no actual evidence of guilt to present a jury will have to decide that but in the meantime in the court of public opinion it's been a terrible holiday season for Menendez as the prosecution makes it clear that they're planning to keep the pressure on I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight News NJ Spotlight News