Judge drops 4 bribery charges, leaves most of case against Menendez intact

A federal judge on Monday dismissed four of the 22 corruption charges against U.S. Sen.

Robert Menendez and Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen.

The judge did, however, rule that the fund to which Melgen donated, The Fund to Uphold the Constitution, wasn’t an entity that benefited Menendez’s 2012 Senate campaign and that the indictment didn’t allege an explicit agreement between the two men tied to the donations.

Menendez is alleged to have exchanged political favors for campaign donations and travel perks from Melgen, who Menendez says is a longtime friend.

The judge denied the pair’s claims in motions to dismiss the indictment that prosecutors gave improper instructions and made false statements to the grand jury.

Menendez’s attorneys argued that the senator’s acceptance of gifts and donations from his didn’t constitute bribery and in any case was protected by the First Amendment or the Constitution’s Speech and Debate clause.

In June, the judge also declined to move the case from NJ to Washington DC.

A few issues raised by defense lawyers in a series of 15 motions filed in July were not addressed Monday, and it was unclear if further rulings were coming.

Melgen joined Menendez’s request to dismiss the case. He said he’d ask the federal court of appeals in Philadelphia to review several of Monday’s rulings.

The senator has called the case an attempt to prosecute a 20-year friendship.

“The government has adequately alleged that Melgen made contributions in an effort to control the exercise of Menendez’s official duties, and the truth of these allegations is a question of fact”, he added.

Prosecutors disputed all of Menendez’s claims.

“This is precisely a ‘situation in which the police have a warrant to search a given area for specified objects, and in the course of the search come across a few other article of incriminating character, ‘” Walls wrote, citing a 1990 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.