Menendez and his defense team tried to get a mistrial based on the notion that the judge had unfairly ended their defense. But the judge wasn’t having any of it:

A federal judge has rejected a request to declare a mistrial in the corruption case against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Politico reported Monday. Lawyers for Menendez and co-defendant Salomon Melgen reportedly filed a motion for a mistrial on Sunday after a hearing last week with U.S. District Judge William Walls. The lawyers claimed Walls blocked them from introducing key evidence, including testimony from two witnesses.







Here’s what the judge told them:

“The defense wants to spend morning, noon and night discussing the contracts in each case, the issue of multiple dosages and the issue of scanning with regard to the security contract with regard to the port in the Dominican Republic,” U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls said. “It’s a question for this court to determine when enough is enough. It’s not a question that the court interferes with your presentation of the defense. Absolutely not.” The surprise motion for a mistrial came Thursday, after Walls refused to let the defense call its final witness, attorney Marc Elias. Lawyers for Menendez and Melgen wanted Elias to talk about data gathering on flights Menendez took on Melgen’s private jet — part of what prosecutors charge was a bribery scheme — in response to an inquiry from the Senate’s ethics committee. The defense had sought to show that Menendez did not intentionally hide the number of flights he took but Walls wouldn’t allow it. Walls also stopped the defense from calling employee of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a witness to testify about confusion around its policy on “multi-dosing” drugs — something Melgen allegedly did to over-bill Medicare. “For the defendants to feel as though their rights have been for the exclusion of a woman whose name I can’t remember right now — it causes me to lose any respect I have for your judgement as far as remaining legal challenges to what I do,” Walls said.

OUCH!

It sounds like the motion for mistrial was not only denied, but that Menendez’s slippery defense team actually hurt their case going forward! LOL!