Story highlights Menendez, Melgen ask judge to declare a mistrial in bribery case

Request came after attempt to call attorney retained for a Senate probe into Menendez from 2012

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Cory Booker appeared as character witnesses Thursday

Newark, New Jersey (CNN) The legal teams for Sen. Bob Menendez and his co-defendant, Dr. Salomon Melgen moved for a mistrial in their defendants' federal bribery case Thursday afternoon, but the judge appeared poised to reject it.

In a fiery exchange -- at times rising to shouting -- with defense lawyers running over an hour, Judge William Walls pressed the lawyers to explain the basis for their assertion that he's committed judicial misconduct.

"We're still buddies -- but don't try to soften the blow, if you are going to accuse the court of misconduct then I'm going to hold your feet to the fire," Walls told Melgen's defense attorney, Kirk Ogrosky. "This is what we call a 'Come to Jesus' meeting."

"I'm not asking you to abandon rules, I'm asking you to apply them equally," Ogrosky said at one point.

Earlier Thursday, the defense team attempted to call Perkins Coie attorney Marc Elias -- who was retained for a Senate ethics inquiry into Menendez that began in 2012 -- and now at the center of a different political firestorm over his engagement of an intelligence firm for Hillary Clinton's campaign to conduct opposition research on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

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